A selection of the week’s best photos from across the African continent and beyond:
OLYMPIA DE MAISMONT / AFP
On Monday, 31-year-old Ange Gnacadja rests on cotton harvested in Soclogbo, Benin.
KHALED DESOUKI / AFP
It’s time for the Egyptian Marathon on Saturday in Luxor.
FETHI BELAID / AFP
The next day in Tunisia’s capital city Tunis, dancers compete at the Juste Debout international contest.
ESA ALEXANDER / REUTERS
This diver in Cape Town throws shapes on a hot Saturday in South Africa.
ABDEL MAJID BZIOUAT / AFP
Monday marks the start of the year 2975 for members of north Africa’s Amazigh communities…
JALAL MORCHIDI / EPA
Celebrations in the Moroccan capital of Rabat include fashion shows and musical performances.
AMANUEL SILESHI / AFP
Earthquakes in the north of Ethiopia leave huge cracks in the road, causing this man trouble as he transports goods on Sunday.
MARCO LONGARI / AFP
Renowned chef Georgiana Viou – pictured on Sunday – trades a Michelin-starred restaurant in France for her new venture in Benin, called Restaurant L’Ami.
OLYMPIA DE MAISMONT / AFP
Also in Benin days earlier, Vodún worshippers approach the palace of King Kpodégbé Lanmanfan Toyi Djigla…
MARCO LONGARI / AFP
Swirling zangbetos in an array of colours are a familiar part of Vodún festivals…
MARCO LONGARI / AFP
Meanwhile this Vodún worshipper pauses for a portrait at the Mami Wata Temple in Ouidah.
LEON SADIKI / GETTY IMAGES
KIM LUDBROOK/EPA
Left without food and supplies for weeks on end, many of the survivors were emaciated and had to be stretchered away from the site because they were too weak to walk.
JOSPIN MWISHA / AFP
This boy and the many people and families around him are among more than 100,000 people who have fled their homes in Masisi, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, in the past week alone because of deadly violence between M23 rebels and the army. Despite the cost of human misery, minerals from here are found in smartphones sold the world over.
PHILL MAGAKOE / AFP
Slick choreography for the inauguration of Mozambique’s new president, Daniel Chapo, includes the handing out of refreshments featuring his portrait…
ESTEVAO CHAVISSO / EPA
And on the same day, protesters against the election, who do not recognise Chapo as the rightful president, make their voices heard.
OLYMPIA DE MAISMONT / AFP
KHALED DESOUKI / AFP
FETHI BELAID / AFP
ESA ALEXANDER / REUTERS
ABDEL MAJID BZIOUAT / AFP
JALAL MORCHIDI / EPA
AMANUEL SILESHI / AFP
MARCO LONGARI / AFP
OLYMPIA DE MAISMONT / AFP
MARCO LONGARI / AFP
MARCO LONGARI / AFP
LEON SADIKI / GETTY IMAGES
KIM LUDBROOK/EPA
JOSPIN MWISHA / AFP
PHILL MAGAKOE / AFP
ESTEVAO CHAVISSO / EPA
Getty Images/BBC