Botswana's high court ruled to decriminalise homosexuality on Tuesday, in a landmark case being watched across Africa after Kenya recently upheld its own anti-homosexuality laws.

Botswana is regarded as one of Africa's most stable and democratic nations but homosexuality is outlawed under the country's penal code of 1965.

In March, the court postponed a ruling on the issue after an unnamed applicant challenged two sections of the penal code under which offenders face a jail sentence of up to seven years.

-JP