Breaking News Today – Thursday 25 June 2026

African Start-up News Headlines:

• African stable-coin payments startup Daya has secured $2.4 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Hivemind Capital, with participation from Lattice, Alliance, Globelink, and Aptos Foundation. The company aims to simplify cross-border payments and remittances across Africa by leveraging stablecoins to reduce costs, speed up transactions, and bypass traditional banking friction. Daya’s platform targets businesses, freelancers, and diaspora communities seeking more efficient alternatives to high-fee legacy systems. Daya plans to use the capital to expand engineering and product teams, strengthen infrastructure and compliance capabilities and scale into additional key African markets.

Business News Today 

Salaries in South Africa Slump to Weakest Level in Two Years

According to the latest PayInc Salary Index released this week, real wages in South Africa fell to their lowest level in two years during May 2026. The data reveals that despite nominal wage increases, inflation, rising living costs, and currency pressures have eroded purchasing power significantly. The report highlights growing financial strain on households, contributing to weaker consumer spending and slower economic recovery. Economists warn that sustained real wage erosion could dampen domestic demand and impact sectors reliant on local consumption.

Key Findings:

• Real salary growth turned negative for the first time in several quarters, with average take-home pay declining by approximately 2.8% year-on-year when adjusted for inflation.
• The most affected sectors include retail, hospitality, and administrative roles, where wage growth failed to keep pace with rising food, fuel, and transport costs.
• Middle-income earners have been hit particularly hard, with many reporting reduced disposable income and increased reliance on credit.

Tightening Monetary Conditions in South Africa

South Africa’s 10-year government bond yield was around 8.51%, a near two-week high yesterday, supported by expectations of policy tightening. SARB Governor Lesetja Kganyago signalled that additional interest rate hikes may be on the horizon, as the global energy shock linked to the Middle East conflict shows signs of spreading across the broader economy. Core inflation, which excludes food and fuel, rose to 3.8% in May from 3.6%, while headline inflation accelerated to 4.5% from 4%.

While the signing of the interim US-Iran agreement has helped ease energy-driven inflation concerns, uncertainty persisted, with risks extending beyond fuel to food prices due to higher fertiliser costs. Kganyago noted that fertiliser price effects would be more visible in the second half of the year during the planting season, as they feed directly into food prices and may have a longer-lasting impact on inflation. Against this backdrop, traders are pricing in a higher chance of another 25bps rate hike in July.

Morocco’s Central Bank Leaves Rate Unchanged

The National Bank of Morocco left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 2.25% at its June meeting, marking a fifth consecutive decision to hold rates steady. This as policymakers weighed ongoing supply-chain disruptions against improving economic conditions. Annual inflation eased to 1.2% in May, down from over a year high of 1.7%. However, energy and fuel prices surged 27.6% year-on-year, while rising imported inflation is expected to exert additional upward pressure on domestic prices. Nevertheless, inflation is projected to average 1.5% in 2026 and 2.1% in 2027. Economic activity improved, supported by a recovery in agricultural output and consolidated growth in non-agricultural sectors. Looking ahead, economic growth is expected to remain robust at 5.2%, although slightly below its previous forecast of 5.6%.

Breaking Business and Market News Shorts:  

• While Korea was bundled out of the Fifa World Cup by South Africa today, the KOSPI climbed nearly 5% to around 8,880 this morning, extending gains from the previous session as semiconductor stocks rallied on renewed optimism over AI-driven demand. Investor sentiment was boosted after Micron Technology reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results and issued an upbeat revenue forecast, reinforcing expectations of robust demand for memory chips.
• Gold futures have fallen below $4,000 an ounce this morning, moving close to its lowest levels in seven months. This as a stronger dollar and growing expectations of Federal Reserve rate hikes continued to impact prices. The US dollar rose to its highest level in more than a year against a most major currencies, making dollar-denominated commodities such as gold costlier.
• Ivory Coast is targeting a growth in its cotton production of almost 29% to around 400,000 metric tons in the 2026/27 season, according to a statement by the cotton ginners’ association yesterday. Ivory Coast is the top cocoa-producing nation globally, and was also among Africa’s leading cotton exporters before civil war ignited in 2002.
• Zinc futures fell to around $3,410 per tonne, the lowest in seven weeks, pressured by a surging US dollar. Expectations of higher US interest rates strengthen the greenback, making dollar-priced commodities less attractive for buyers using other currencies. 
• Shares of chipmakers surged late yesterday, adding over $400 billion in market value after strong ​forecasts from Micron Technology and Qualcomm ignited AI stock buying after hitting a recent slow-down. Micron lifted 12% after issuing a positive quarterly earnings above analysts’ estimates, raising hope that ​heavy investments in AI-related infrastructure will drive strong ​demand for memory chips.

Markets by Numbers 

Currency markets indicate the US dollar flat today after gains yesterday. The Greenback is trading against the Euro at 1.13661 while trading against the Pound at 1.31819 The Yen is currently trading at 161.74 to the dollar. The rand (ZAR), is currently trading around the 16.53 mark against the US dollar this morning.

Commodities:  

• Gold futures are around -0.14% lower this morning, and currently trading at around $3994.21 per ounce.  
• Copper prices are just over 1% higher today, with prices currently around $60.046 per pound
• Silver futures are around 0.2% higher today, after a steep drop yesterday, and currently trading at around $57.472 per ounce.
• Platinum futures are at a 7-month low and around -0.78% lower this morning, currently trading at $1569.60, While Palladium hit a 9-month low yesterday with prices edging up today, and currently trading around $1181.00 per ounce.
• Brent crude oil prices are trending -1.49% lower today, hitting its lowest level since early March and currently trading around $72.63, with WTI trading at $69.43 currently
• Cocoa futures are surging upwards by over 7.% this morning, and currently trading at $4973 per ton. 
• Coffee futures are trending around 0.45% higher today, and currently trading at around $2.7720 per pound

Crypto Currencies: 

• Bitcoin prices are 0.6% higher today, and trading at around $61 370 per coin currently 
• Ether prices are 0.8% higher this morning, and currently trading around $1636.74
• $Trumpcoin are currently trading at around $1.717

(All prices quoted at approximately 07H05 Central African Time) 

African General News Briefs:

• Zimbabwe’s Senate has approved a constitutional amendment act that would remove direct presidential elections, delay the next one and extend the tenure of the country’s 83-year-old leader, Emmerson Mnangagwa, whose signature is the final step for them to become law. Seventy-five senators voted in favor of the bill that would postpone elections scheduled for 2028 to 2030 and extend President Mnangagwa’s term by two years.
• Kenyan prosecutors have indicated that they are preparing to charge several students with the murder of their schoolmates. The action follows a deadly school arson attack last month where sixteen pupils, aged between 15 and 18, died and dozens more were injured when a fire broke out in a dormitory at Utumishi Girls’ School in Gilgil, about 120km north-west of the capital, Nairobi.