Breaking News Today – Friday 31 July 2026

African Start-up News Headlines:

• Carrefour Kenya, has collaborated with KCB Bank Kenya and Mastercard to launch the Carrefour Prepaid card. The payment solution is designed to help customers better plan, manage, and control their grocery spending, reinforcing their commitment to delivering greater value and convenience. The prepaid card allows customers to set a budget, track their spending, ensure funds dedicated to household essentials are used as intended, and benefit from exclusive Carrefour discounts and rewards.
• Nigeria’s food-tech sector sees a second startup fold in only a few months. GoLemon,the Lagos grocery delivery startup founded by former Paystack staff, has ceased its order taking and will fully shut its customer support channels on 2 August, after the company failed to raise additional funding needed to keep the doors open. This follows FoodCourt’s shut-down in March, when unpaid salaries triggered staff strikes and debt pressure forced it to close its remaining kitchens in Lagos and Abuja
  
  

Business News Today 

Rwanda Phasing out 2G and 3G mobile Technology

The Government of Rwanda has approved a phased plan to retire the country’s 2G and 3G mobile networks and complete the transition to 4G and 5G.Under the plan, 3G services will be switched off nationwide on 30 June 2027. The 2G network will be retired at a later stage. Retiring 2G and 3G will make more spectrum available for 4G and 5G networks, which offer faster connections, greater capacity and stronger security.

The Government is currently working towards December 2028 for the 2G switch-off. The final date will depend on the outcome of the 3G transition and an assessment of network coverage, service continuity, the number of people still using older phones, the migration of systems that depend on 2G, and the country’s overall readiness.

Global Refinery Development Capital is Now Nigeria

Nigeria is set to be the world’s premier location for new fuel refinery developments over the next four years, according to Industrial Info Resources, with an estimated $10.74 billion investment which will be required to develop 24 modular refineries around the country, according to Industrial Info Resources. Nigeria’s ambition is to build its refining capacity to 2.64 million barrels per day (bpd) by the end of 2030. The current refined fuel output in Nigeria stands at 650k bpd and the country is the globally leader in new refinery projects, outpacing major markets like the US, Iran, China, and Iraq.

The Dangote Refinery, now Africa’s largest, has enabled Nigeria to become a net exporter of gasoline and a major supplier of jet fuel to Europe. Dangote Oil, has also recently announced it plans to build a 650 000 bpd refinery in Kenya and has ambitions for further developments across the continent.

Nigeria is also leading efforts to establish a West African fuel price benchmark based on regional supply, demand and logistics rather than based on foreign indices. This proposal will be a key focus of the second West Africa Refined Fuel Conference in Abuja on August 11–12.

Producer Price Inflation eases Marginally in May

Statistics South Africa released the June 2026 Producer Price Index on 30 July 2026. Annual producer price inflation for final manufactured goods eased to 7.5%, down from 7.8% in May. On a month-on-month basis the index declined 0.1%.

Main influencers The largest contributor remained the coke, petroleum, chemical, rubber and plastic products category, which has been driven by elevated fuel prices (petrol and diesel). This group had pushed the May reading higher and continued to dominate the annual rate in June, even as the overall figure moderated slightly. Other categories such as food, beverages and tobacco, and metals/machinery made smaller contributions.

Outlook PPI is expected to stay relatively elevated in the near term while fuel-related base effects remain strong. Analysts generally anticipate some moderation in the second half of 2026 if global oil prices stabilise or ease and the fuel shock does not feed more broadly into other producer prices.

Breaking Business and Market News Shorts:  

• US technology stocks staged a strong rebound yesterday. the Nasdaq Composite rose approximately 2.8%, with the S&P 500 up about 1.7%, and theDow Jones: up around 1.2%. The rally was led by Microsoft, which surged sharply, with a gain of around 15% at one point, after delivering better-than-expected results that reassured investors its heavy AI spending is beginning to translate into profits.
• Last week, saw the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) moved to within KSh 82billion (US$633.7 million) of a record KSh 4trillion (US$30.91 billion) market-capitalisation with all major equity indexes extending its 2026 return to above 25%, this, despite the heaviest weekly foreign investor outflow since March. Stocks added KSh 31.9billion in value during the week ended July 24, lifting market capitalisation by 0.82% to KSh 3.918trillion (US$246.5 million).
• Visa has appointed Anne Kinuthia Otieno, the former managing director of Airtel Money Kenya, as the Vice President and Head of East Africa, less than a week after the announcement of her departure from the mobile money operator. Otieno will assume the role on August 4, overseeing Visa’s business across seven East African markets.
• South Africa’s government, yesterday, day named Deputy Minister in the Presidency, Seiso Mohai, as chair of the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), alongside the appointment of eight new non-executive members to the PIC board was aimed at addressing governance challenges.in a move aimed at restoring stability and investor confidence at the embattled state-owned asset manager.
• China’s official NBS Manufacturing PMI unexpectedly declined to 49.2 in July 2026 from 50.3 in the previous month, below market expectations of 50.0. It was the first contraction in factory activity since February, amid persistently weak domestic and external demand and elevated production costs. 

Markets by Numbers 

Currency markets indicate the US dollar weakening today. The Greenback is trading against the Euro at 1.15142 while trading against the Pound at 1.34563 The Yen is currently trading at 160.58 to the dollar. The rand (ZAR), is currently trading around the 16.51 mark against the US dollar this morning.

Commodities:  

• Gold futures are trading around -0.5% lower this morning, and currently trading at around $4082.80 per ounce.  
• Copper prices are around 0.2% higher this morning, with prices currently around $6.4576 per pound
• Silver futures are down by -0.6% today, and currently trading at around $58.658 per ounce.
• Platinum futures are down around -1% this morning, and currently trading at $1643.40, while Palladium is down around -0.47% today, and currently trading around $1301.00 per ounce.
• Lithium prices are up flat today and trading at CNY146 000
• Brent crude oil prices are trending over -1.4% lower today, and currently trading around $85.69 with WTI trading at $82.25 currently
• Cocoa futures are trading around -1.4% lower today, and currently trading at $5112 per ton. 
• Coffee futures have slipped by around -0.8% today, and currently trading at around $3.2305 per pound

Crypto Currencies: 

• Bitcoin prices are down by around -0.49% today, currently trading at around $64 333 per coin.
• Ether prices are trending lower by -0.72% this morning, and currently trading around $1903.25

(All prices as quoted at approximately 04H25 Central African Time) 

African General News Briefs:

• A Massive power outage in Kenya, which left large areas without electricity overnight on Wednesday night – has started to see power restored. Kenya Power says supply has returned across the Mt. Kenya region, North Rift, Western Kenya, South Nyanza and parts of the capital, Nairobi. The utility says crews are continuing work to restore power to the remaining parts of Nairobi and the coastal region.
• South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has fired the country’s central bank governor, economist Johnny Ohisa. Kiir did not provide a reason for Ohisa’s removal which comes as he makes a series of sweeping changes in the senior ranks of his government. Ohisa previously served as the bank’s chief on two separate occasions and was reappointed for a third time earlier this year. Reports suggest this indicates an attempt by the president to consolidate his power amid uncertainty over who will succeed him.