A selection of the week's best photos from across the African continent and beyond:
Models dressed in cowrie shells and batik dresses appear on the final day of Dakar Fashion Week in the Senegalese capital… (John Wessels / AFP)
Saturday will also see creations by French-Senegalese designer Adama N'Diaye on display… (Cem Ozdel/Getty Images)
Her collection features amazing colors and rich textures. (Cem Ozdel/Getty Images)
On the same day in Lagos, models with rich tones and patterns of designer Iffizi prepare for the catwalk at the Nigerian African Fashion Week. (Emanuel Adegboye/EPA)
Also on Saturday, music lovers turn out for a good cause as the Uhuru Aids Benefit concert comes to Kroonstad in South Africa. (Sharon Seretlo/Getty Images)
Meanwhile in Nairobi that day, ballerinas wait back on stage for a performance of The Nutcracker by the Dance Center Kenya company. (Luis Tato/AFP)
On Friday in the US, Zimbabwean UFC fighter Themba Gorimbo will proudly display his African roots at an indoor weigh-in in Las Vegas. (Chris Unger/Getty Images)
And the next day in South Africa, competitors warm up ahead of the IFBB Fitness and Bodybuilding Classic Show. (Roberta Ciuccio/AFP)
There is another display of physical strength, this time in Cameroon on Sunday at the Nguon festival. The event is said to date back to the 14th century and was recognized last year by Unesco as an example of “intangible heritage”. (Daniel Beloumou Olomo/AFP)
On Saturday in Kenya it is time for the Kibera Arts Festival, which serves the community in this neighborhood of Nairobi. (Gerald Anderson/Getty Images)
In the Kenyan capital on Tuesday, fierce citizens are protesting against endemic violence against women under the banner End Femicide Kenya. (Monica Mwangi/Reuters)
Rights groups say nearly 100 women have been killed in the past three months alone… (Gerald Anderson / Getty Images)
As the official results of Ghana's presidential election came in on Monday, John Mahama's supporters will be celebrating his re-election after almost eight years of opposition. (Francis Kokoroko/Reuters)
Days earlier, as news spread of French troops being expelled from Chad, anti-French demonstrators in N'Djamena made their feelings clear by stamped on the Tricolore. (Denis Sassou Gueipeur/AFP)
South African actress Thuso Mbedu smiles at the premiere of Mufasa: The Lion King on Monday. She expresses the character of Junia. (Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/Getty Images)
Acclaimed Mauritanian film director Abderrahmane Sissako enjoys himself at the closing ceremony of the Marrakesh International Film Festival in Morocco on Saturday. (Jalal Morchidi/EPA)
On Saturday, the Ivorian cleric and Archbishop of Abidjan Ignace Bessi Dogbo will be formally made a cardinal in the Vatican. (Riccardo De Luca/AFP)
And on Monday in the South African city of Cape Town, a small dog licks its chops while cars wait in traffic to see the Christmas lights. (Esa Alexander/Reuters)
From the BBC in Africa this week:
(Getty Images/BBC)
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