ACCRA, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Ghana urgently needs to narrow its budget deficit, the International Monetary Fund said on Friday, after the 2016 gap came in at 9 percent of economic output rather than the Fund's target of 5.25 percent.

ACCRA, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Ghana's budget deficit in 2016 stood at 9 percent of economic output rather than the International Monetary Fund's target of 5.25 percent, the Fund said on Friday.

ACCRA, Feb 10 (Reuters) - The Bank of Ghana said the yield on its weekly 91-day bill fell to 15.6877 percent at an auction on Friday from 15.9522 percent at the last sale on Feb. 3. The bank said it had accepted 644.99 million cedis ($146 million) worth of bids out of 655.49 million cedis tendered for the paper, which will be issued on Feb. 13.

LIMPOPO, South Africa (Reuters) - Inspecting the damage on his 4,000 hectare farm, Petri van der Walt breaks open the stem of a sorghum plant to reveal the crop-eating pest that has for the first time been detected in Africa's biggest grain producer.

MISRATA, Libya (Reuters) - Islamic State militants have shifted to desert valleys and inland hills southeast of Tripoli as they seek to exploit Libya's political divisions after defeat in their former stronghold of Sirte, security officials say.

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya said on Friday it was declaring a drought in the east African economy a national disaster, saying it had affected 23 out of its 47 regions, known as counties.

NAIROBI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Africa needs to reform its systems for buying and selling land and invest aggressively in urban infrastructure to create jobs, end poverty and reduce cities' high living costs, the World Bank said on Thursday.

ABIDJAN (Reuters) - When conservation biologist Matt Shirley discovered the world's newest crocodile species after years of sloshing through mangroves and swamps from Senegal to Uganda, the elation was tempered by the knowledge that it was on a path to extinction.

BANJUL (Reuters) - Thousands of soldiers from West African bloc ECOWAS will start returning home this month from Gambia, from where long-time leader Yahya Jammeh was forced to flee last month, paving the way for new President Adama Barrow to take office.

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South Africa's opposition Democratic Alliance said on Friday it was seeking a court ruling on the deployment of armed soldiers in parliament saying the move, during President Jacob Zuma's state-of-the-nation speech, was unconstitutional.

(Reuters) - President Donald Trump suffered a legal blow on Thursday when a federal appeals court refused to reinstate his executive order temporarily banning people from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States.

BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - Eastern Libyan forces attacked an air base in the central region of Jufra on Thursday, killing at least two people according to a force spokesman and a medical source, hours after factional fighting flared in the capital Tripoli.

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South African lawmakers of the opposition Economic Freedom Fighters party brawled with parliamentary orderlies as they were ejected from the chamber for interrupting President Jacob Zuma's state-of-the-nation speech on Thursday.

NAIROBI, Feb 10 (Reuters) - The following company announcements, scheduled economic indicators, debt and currency market moves and political events may affect African markets on Friday. - - - - - EVENTS: *The central bank of Mauritius to auction 91-day, 182-day and 364-day Treasury bills worth a total 2 billion rupees. *Rwanda consumer inflation for January to be released. GLOBAL MARKETS Asian shares rallied to an 18-month peak on Friday, as investors cheered upbeat C