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Africa's week in pictures: 15-21 February 2019

A selection of photos from across Africa and of Africans elsewhere this week:

News imageAFP A boy selling balloons to celebrate in Martyrs Square, Tripoli, Libya - Saturday 17 February 2019AFP
A boy sells balloons in the centre of Libya's capital, Tripoli, on Saturday on the eve of celebrations to mark the eighth anniversary of the Libyan uprising.
News imageAFP A tall tower block stands next to a domed mosque in a built-up part of the city of Cairo. The sky is a dark blue and the tower's windows are illuminated by the sun in a bright orange. Egypt - Wednesday 20 February 2019AFP
In neighbouring Egypt on Wednesday, the windows on this tower block catch the fading sunlight in the capital, Cairo.
News imageEPA Two pink candles, one green and one yellow are seen close up, held in the hands of two different people who are both wearing red tops in Nairobi, Kenya - Sunday 17 February 2019EPA
On Sunday, members of the LGBT-friendly Cosmopolitan Affirming Church in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, hold candles.
News imageAFP A man is seen inside a wooden structure that has signs saying "blanchisserie", the French word for laundry, daubed in paint on the outside in Abidjan, Ivory Coast - Tuesday 19 February 2019AFP
A man irons clothes on Tuesday at a laundry in the suburbs of Ivory Coast's economic capital, Abidjan.
News imageAFP A crowned sifaka is seen inside a zoo cuddling a teddy bear which resembles the mammal in Besancon, France - Monday 18 February 2019AFP
One of Madagascar's critically endangered lemurs, a crowned sifaka, is seen in a zoo in eastern France on Monday, cuddling up to a teddy bear.
News imageAFP A young boy looks on during a special Jumu'ah prayer service at the Central Mosque in Lagos, Nigeria. He is wearing a hat and his eyes are lined in kohl - Friday 15 February 2019AFP
This boy joins prayers for a peaceful election at the Central Mosque in the Nigerian city of Lagos on Friday. Voting was postponed just five hours before polls were due to open on Saturday…
News imageAFP Palace guards dressed in red and green, including large red turbans, stand as candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) arrives to pray at Central Mosque, in his native town of Daura in Katsina State, Nigeria - Friday 15 February 2019AFP
Also on Friday, these men stand guard at a mosque in the northern Nigerian town of Daura for the visit of a campaigning politician…
News imageAFP A drummer dressed in a white suit performs during service at St Mary's Catholic church in Port Harcourt, Nigeria - Sunday 17 February 2019AFP
A drummer performs during mass at St Mary's Catholic Church in Nigeria's southern city of Port Harcourt on Sunday...
News imageAFP Cattle herders direct cows to the yards at a livestock market in Ngurore, Adamawa State, Nigeria. They are encircling the animal, the sun is low in the sky - Wednesday 20 February 2019AFP
Cattle herders in Nigeria's north-eastern Adawama state are seen at work on Wednesday at a livestock market...
News imageAFP A woman smiles as she holds a bottle of water branded with the faces of President Muhammadu Buhari and the vice-president in Abuja, Nigeria - Wednesday 20 February 2019AFP
Here an APC supporter holds a bottle branded with the faces of President Muhammadu Buhari and his deputy in Nigeria's capital, Abuja...
News imageAFP Rickshaws emblazoned with campaign posters bearing images of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party election candidate Atiku Abubakar and his running mate Peter Obi stand on a road in Abuja, Nigeria - Monday 19 February 2019AFP
In the city on Monday, campaign posters for PDP candidate Atiku Abubakar and his running mate adorn rickshaws taxis. The delayed polls are now due to take place on Saturday.
News imageEPA Three powered paragliders take part in the air games festival in front of the Giza pyramid complex, in Giza, Egypt - Monday 19 February 2019EPA
Paragliders sail over the pyramids in Giza on the second and final day of the Egypt Air Games on Tuesday.
News imageReuters A woman walks past a shop front in Harare, Zimbabwe. It has a sign above the windows and doors bearing the EcoCash logo, to tell passersby that it accepts that form of payment. Tuesday 20 February 2019Reuters
The next day, a woman walks past a shop in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, that accepts EcoCash, a mobile money system used because of a chronic cash shortage.
News imageAFP Inmates at Kodiaga Womens Prison celebrate with the newly selected Miss Kodiaga Womens Prison 2019, who is wearing a bright pink dress with glitter on one side, as well as a tiara, in Kisumu, Kenya - Saturday 17 February 2019AFP
And inmates celebrate on Sunday with the newly crowned Miss Kodiaga Women's Prison in western Kenya - an annual event organised by an NGO.

Images courtesy of AFP, EPA and Reuters