Normally, Africans hold between 3-4 weeks. The eggs may actually hatch during the 1st 2 weeks but the mother will still hold them after that until she decides at what time to spit them out into the world.
I currently have a zebra and an electric yellow that are holding. Both batches have hatched(you can see them when they open their mouths to breath) but each mother still has 1-2 weeks of holding left.
Whether you want to net the mother or not is up to you. Some people do, some don't. I didn't net my electric yellow the 1st time she held babies and I ended up losing them all when she spit them into the tank with about 30 other vicious hungry tankmates. When my L. fuelleborni held last month, I chose to make up a baby holding tank and I moved her there for her last week until she spit the babies out. I will do that with my electric yellow and zebra too. I don't want to lose anymore babies.
One cautionary thing to mention though, whether you want to move the mother or not will depend on her reaction to you trying to move her. I've had a few people tell me that the mother will either swallow or spit prematurely at the sight of a net or being chased.
I move my fish because they are pretty hardy and they've been holding their babies in a tank full of psychos (I love my Africans, really I do
) so I figure a net isn't going to scare them that much.
Another option to consider is dividing your tank with the holding mother on one side and the other fish on the other side. That would probaby be less stressful for everyone. Good luck! It's a long wait but it is worth it to see those cute little babies!