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Editorial Team

West Africa Photographer
Instructors assist a participant with limited mobility out of the ocean after an aquatic therapy session in Dakar, Senegal, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu, File)
Photos show aquagym classes in Senegal helping people with reduced mobility
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Participants of all ages gather on a beach in Dakar for low-impact aquagym sessions in the Atlantic Ocean, moving in the water to ease pain and improve mobility.
 
Participants walk out of the ocean after a group aquatic therapy session in Dakar, Senegal, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)
Senegal’s aquagym classes offer hope and healing for people with reduced mobility
Senegal’s first aquagym program has drawn praise from health professionals for helping people with reduced mobility caused by noncommunicable diseases.
 
A balloon bearing the image of President Alassane Ouattara floats above supporters during a campaign rally in Koumassi, Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Oct. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu, File)
Photos from Ivory Coast’s presidential election as 83-year-old incumbent seeks fourth term
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — Voters in Ivory Coast cast ballots Saturday to elect a new president, as the 83-year-old incumbent Alassane Ouattara sought a fourth term.
 
Graffiti artist Omar Diaw works on a mural depicting Guinea's President Mamadi Doumbouya on a street wall in Conakry, Guinea, Saturday, Sep. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)
Senegalese artist transforms Conakry’s walls with captivating street art, in photos
CONAKRY, Guinea (AP) — Street art graffiti is spreading in West Africa. In Guinea’s capital, an artist from Senegal is transforming city walls and public perceptions.
 
Oyster farmer Beatrice Nutekpor poses for a photograph in the Densu estuary where she harvests oysters at Tsokomey, Ghana, Aug. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)
Photos show Ghana’s female oyster farmers sustaining a generational practice
TSOKOMEY, Ghana (AP) — In Ghana’s coastal mangroves, women are making efforts to sustain oyster farming, a key livelihood in coastal mangroves.
 
A fish fantasy coffin crafted by Eric Kpakpo Adotey is displayed by the roadside in La, Accra, Ghana, Friday, July 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)
Photos show Ghana’s fantasy coffins as a stylish final rest
While fantasy coffins have been common among the Ga people of Accra, Ghana, they are becoming a widespread practice offering a colorful alternative to simple wooden boxes.
 
The fantasy coffin of the late Robert Nii Anang Obodai, a former school proprietor, is lowered into his grave in Accra, Ghana, Saturday, July 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)
Ghana’s fantasy coffins are a colorful celebration of life and legacy
Ghana’s fantasy coffins are unique creations that embody the essence of a person’s life. Known by locals as Abebuo, these colorful coffins, shaped like animals, tools, or symbols, serve as a final message from the deceased.
 
A woman recites prayers as people mark Prophet Muhammad's birthday, known as Mawlid, in Dakar, Senegal, Friday, Sept. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)
Muslims in Senegal celebrate the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday, in photos
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Dressed in white, Muslims in Senegal attend the annual festival commemorating the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday, known as Mawlid.
 
Muslims gather to break their fast with fruits and juice during the holy month of Ramadan in Nima, Accra, Ghana, Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)
From the Atlantic coast to the Sahelian plain, Ramadan brings West Africans to the table
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Each night, throughout Islam’s holy month of Ramadan, families gather, neighbors share food freely and communities come together around beloved culinary traditions that carry both comfort and meaning.
 
Aminata Doumbia, president of the women's group, sits next to a pit on farmland that was leased with help from USAID but has not yet been cultivated because the funding has ceased in Kimbirila-Nord, Ivory Coast, Feb. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)
Ivory Coast is losing US aid as al-Qaida and other extremist groups are approaching
The Trump administration’s sweeping cuts in foreign aid have impacted programs in northern Ivory Coast to counter the spread of al-Qaida and the Islamic State group.
 
Afeli Bernice Adzo leans against the remains of her father's room as she looks at the ocean that destroyed her family home in Avegadzi, Ghana, Wednesday, March 5, 2025 (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)
‘We don’t have anywhere to go.’ In Ghana, rising seas, powerful waves sweep away homes
AGAVEDZI, Ghana (AP) — Pieces of this coastal Ghana community disappear into the sea when heavy waves batter the shore — sweeping away houses and land, threatening to unearth bodies buried in cemeteries and devastating parts of Agavedzi, where generations of families have built homes and lives.
 
Cows are seen at the largest dumpsite where textile waste ends up at Old Fadama in Accra, Ghana, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)
A photographer found a cow grazing in a dumpsite to be an impactful message about the environment
An AP photographer captures a dumpsite low-income community called Old Fadama in Accra. It is the largest dumpsite where textiles and other waste are disposed of.
 
Efua, a 25-year-old fashion designer and single mother in Ghana who became pregnant in 2023, poses for a photo in Accra, Ghana, Tuesday, March 19, 2024. Efua sought an abortion at a health clinic but worried the procedure might be illegal. More than 20 countries across Africa have loosened restrictions on abortion in recent years, but experts say that like Efua, many women probably don't realize they are entitled to a legal abortion. Pictured is the room at MSI Ghana in Accra, Tuesday, March 19, 2024, where Efua, a 25-year-old fashion designer and single mother in Ghana who became pregnant in 2023, had an abortion. More than 20 countries across Africa have loosened restrictions on abortion in recent years, but experts say that like Efua, many women probably don't realize they are entitled to a legal abortion. Efua spoke to the AP on condition that only her middle name be used, for fear of reprisals from the growing anti-abortion movement in her country (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)
In many African countries, abortions are legal. But information and access can be hard to come by
More than 20 countries across Africa have loosened restrictions on abortion in recent years, but experts say many women probably don’t realize they are entitled to a legal abortion.
 
FILE - Vice President Kamala Harris walks at Cape Coast Castle in Ghana, Tuesday, March 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu, File)
An AP photographer in Ghana shares why she focuses on documenting women
Misper Apawu is a photojournalist living and working in Ghana. In addition to her photojournalism work, she often focuses on the lives of women in her country.