The move comes days after Ghana became the first country in the world to approve the (R21) vaccine.

The head of Nigeria's National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration, Mojisola Adeyeye, said the vaccine would be used for prevention of malaria in children aged between five months and three years - the most vulnerable group.

The approval is unusual as it comes before the publication of final stage trial data for the vaccine, which is thought to be 80% effective.

Nigeria has the highest number of malaria deaths worldwide.

The disease kills more than 6,000 people around the world every year - many of them children in Sub-Saharan Africa.