Breaking News today –  Monday 18 November 2024

Business & Tech News

Huawei Mate 70 Smartphone now Available: Huawei has opened up pre-orders for its Mate 70 smartphone model, this morning (18Nov), they announced this in a statement on its official WeChat account. They also announced It will hold an event for the Mate brand on Nov. 26. The company’s online store on Monday morning started allowing users to reserve the Mate 70 and two pro versions without requiring a deposit. The website did not disclose prices.

Huawei returned to the 5G premium smartphone market last year with its Mate 60 phones that have domestically produced semiconductors.

Automotive Ambitions in Africa: South Africa’s newly unveiled Automotive Industry Master Plan, indicates the ambition of securing 1% of global vehicle production by 2035. Included in the strategic approach is a key focus on developing the Electric Vehicle (EV) manufacturing capacity in the country. Part of this plan is its integration with the mining sector. South Africa has a large amount of scarce and key minerals, essential for EV production, such as lithium, nickel, and cobalt. By leveraging these resources, the nation aims to become a hub for battery manufacturing, ensuring that the entire EV value chain can flourish locally. the government is offering incentives like tax breaks and grants to encourage companies to invest in EV production. This approach fosters innovation while attracting global players to establish and expand their operations in South Africa

SpaceX Share Scheme Speculation:  According to industry insiders, SpaceX has been holding exploratory discussions to sell insider shares that could boost the value of Elon Musk’s rocket and satellite company to around US$255-billion. This would growth the valuation from the company’s previous valuation of about $210-billion. It would also place SpaceX’s value as the most valuable private US company.

Market News

Markets: Indices in the US indices, were down at close on Friday with the NASDAQ down -2,4%, the S&P 500 was down by -1,32% and the Dow Jones closing down by 0,7%. Asian markets this morning have been trending lower with the Nikkei down -1,05% and is at 38236 currently, while the Hang Seng is marginally down by -0,05% this morning and at 19426 currently.

Currencies: The US Dollar is currently trading at 1.054 against the Euro, at 1,263 against the Pound, and at 154.40 against the Yen. The rand has gained back some of its losses against a strong Dollar, and is currently trading at R18.13 to the US dollar.

Commodities:

• Gold has dropped below the 2600 mark and is currently trading at $2,584.25 per ounce
• Platinum and Palladium have both strengthened slightly in trade this morning with Platinum prices currently trading at $951.50 with Palladium prices currently at $968.20 after taking a big drop off yesterday
• Brent crude is currently trading lower today and is at $71.12 with WTI also trading lower at $66.97 currently.
• Cocoa prices have gained more in price today after last week’s big price move, and has hit a new high over 7100, and is currently trading at 7160 pounds per ton.
• Coffee prices are trading upwards, on the day and is at $2.83 currently

(All prices quoted at 08H30 – Central African Time)

Other News in Africa Today

Senegal Election Outcome: Senegal’s ruling party, the PASTEF party has claimed a clear victory outcome this morning after the legislative elections on Sunday with nearly all ballots now counted. This follows the 44-year old President Bassirou Diomaye Faye securing his first term in the presidential election recently, where he stated that “Senegal has chosen to build a country that is just”, he said, adding that he will work tirelessly to preserve the peace and national cohesion.  and the election outcome now clears his way to carry out an ambitious reform agenda. Opposition parties have conceded the election with most of the first polling stations releasing their provisional results. There had been a heated campaign period which had revived concerns about unrest as political rivals clashed.

South Africa Receives Lebanon Refugee Lion: Sara is a young 4-month old lion cub that was rescued by Animals Lebanon, who had first discovered Sara on social media channels in July. Her owner, a Lebanese man, living in the ancient city of Baalbek, had posted videos of himself parading with the cub on TikTok and Instagram. It is against the law to keep wild animals as domestic pets in Lebanon. Sara is one of five lions to be rescued from Lebanon since the military conflict broke out on 7 October attack on Isreal escalated into a full scale war in the region. Sara had to be held in an apartment for weeks while they tended to her health issues and raised funds to get her out of the country. She had a journey by yacht to Cypress, where after she was flown to the UAE and then on to Cape Town where she arrived this weekend and will be kept at a sanctuary with two others recue lions from Lebanon

Tanzania Building Collapse Tragedy: At least 13 people were killed after a building collapsed in Tanzania’s commercial capital Dar es Salaam on Saturday with more than 80 people declared to have been rescued as of yesterday (Nov17). The four-storey building in eastern Dar-es-Salaam’s Kariakoo market around 9am local time. President Samia Suluhu Hassan in a statement, said more than 80 people were rescued and rushed to hospitals for medical care. Twenty-six of them were still hospitalised, she said.