Breaking News Today – Thursday 6 August 2026

African Start-up News Headlines:

• Nigerian Mobility Fintech – Moove, has moved into top gear to become Africa’s new Unicorn Startup business. The e-hailing vehicle financing platform founded by Ladi Delano and Jide Odunsi in 2020, has now reached a $2.1 billion valuation after raising $250 million in a Series C round, making it Africa’s newest tech unicorn. The funding round was led by Mubadala Investment Company and included major investors such as Toyota’s Woven Capital, Ion Pacific, BlackRock, and Uber. Moove plans to use the capital to expand its autonomous vehicle division, purchase an autonomous fleet, build robotics-focused depot facilities, and increase its workforce to 500 staff.
• Yellow Card, the Africa-born stablecoin infrastructure provider, has raised $40 million in strategic equity funding. The round included SC Ventures (Standard Chartered’s venture arm), Sony Innovation Fund, Polychain Capital and Blockchain Capital. It brings the company’s total equity financing to more than $120 million. The capital is to be used to scale its Global USD Accounts product, which allows businesses to hold dollars, manage stablecoins and move money across local payment rails in over 50 countries. Yellow Card also plans to expand its stablecoin infrastructure into Latin America and Asia-Pacific, while deepening partnerships with commercial banks to enable on-chain dollar transfers that compete with traditional systems such as Swift.

Business News Today 

Startup Acceleration in Tanzania

Tanzanian startups raised $52 million in the first half (H1) of 2026, according to data from Africa: The Big Deal. This amount almost matches the country’s full-year total for 2024 ($53 million) and positions Tanzania as one of the stronger mid-tier African ecosystems, ranking fifth on the continent behind Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa. Industry bodies, including the Tanzania Startup Association, say the ecosystem is now within reach of its first-ever $100 million annual funding year. Achieving that would require roughly another $48 million in the second half of 2026.

A notable feature of the H1 performance is the broader spread of capital: at least 10 Tanzanian startups raised $100,000 or more, rather than the total being driven by one or two large deals. This suggests improving depth in the local startup business ecosystem.

Precious Metal Demand Grows With Iran Deal Signed with Oman

Gold is headed towards the $4,300 an ounce mark this morning, with the yellow metal futures, lifting for the fourth consecutive trading session, reaching a 6% price lift so far this week. This follows a deal to partially reopen the Strait of Hormuz which pushed Brent Crude oil prices lower to below $79.60, easing concerns over inflation and the outlook for interest rates. Iran and Oman reached an agreement on a shipping corridor through the strait, boosting expectations of increased energy flows from the Middle East. Markets have also lowered expectations for a US Federal Reserve interest rate hike in 2026, lifting demand for non-interest bearing gold. Gold and Platinum futures are up almost 1% today, with Silver up over 1% and Copper also trending upwards.

Gold Prices are up over 26% Year-on-Year, and could see additional gains in 2026, although it is unlikely to hit record prices of over $5500 per ounce seen in March 2026. With Central Banks globally ramping up gold purchases – (Q1 2026 Net purchases of approximately 57 tonnes and Q2 2026: Net purchases of 289 tonnes – a strong rebound and a record for a second quarter), gold demand looks set to continue for the balance of 2026. African major gold producers, such as Ghana and Mali, are likely to benefit from the continued elevated gold prices.

DRC Gets Major Connectivity Funding Boost

The Emerging Africa and Asia Infrastructure Fund (EAAIF) has committed $82.8 million to strengthen digital infrastructure in Africa, with a particular focus on the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and pan-African fibre networks. The funding is to be split into two parts. A $32.8 million loan will support Eastcastle Infrastructure in expanding its telecommunications tower portfolio in the DRC from 1,072 to 1,800 sites. About 70% of the new towers are planned for rural and under-served areas. A further $50 million loan will go to Liquid Intelligent Technologies as part of a larger refinancing package, helping maintain and optimise its 110,000-kilometre fibre-optic network that spans 25 African countries.

The anticipated impact is improved mobile and internet connectivity in the DRC, where mobile internet penetration remains low at around 17%. The tower expansion should enhance network coverage and reliability, while the support for Liquid’s fibre backbone strengthens regional data transmission capacity across multiple countries. The investments form part of EAAIF’s broader push to scale physical and digital networks that underpin Africa’s growing digital economy.

Breaking Business and Market News Shorts:  

• Gold is headed towards the $4,300 an ounce mark this morning, with the yellow metal futures lifting for the fourth consecutive trading session, reaching a 4.5% price lift so far this week. This follows a deal to partially reopen the Strait of Hormuz pushed oil prices lower, easing concerns over inflation and the outlook for interest rates. Iran and Oman reached an agreement on a shipping corridor through the strait, boosting expectations of increased energy flows from the Middle East. 
• A long awaited development deal in Uganda may finally see an outcome. The final investment decision (FID) for Uganda’s planned crude oil refinery is now expected next February, the sector regulator said regarding a step that could trigger long-delayed development of the $4 billion project. The Petroleum Authority of Uganda (PAU) said on social media platform X on Wednesday, that the refinery FID is expected in February 2027 and basic engineering works have begun
• The Citrus Growers’ Association of Southern Africa has cut its 2026 citrus export forecast to 205.3 million 15kg cartons, down from the earlier estimate of 209.4 million cartons. The reduction of more than 4 million cartons was driven mainly by lower-than-expected volumes of navel oranges (down 4.6 million cartons), mandarins (down 2.7 million) . Increased rainfall in the Eastern Cape produced larger fruit sizes, reducing the number of export cartons.
• Warren Buffett has excluded the Gates Foundation from his midyear donations for the first time since 2006, opting instead to donate thousands of Berkshire Hathaway shares worth almost $6 billion to four foundations run by his children.
• NCBA Group has reported a 12.2 per cent increase in after tax profit in the first half of 2026, to KES 12.4 billion (around US $96 million), up from KES 11.0 billion recorded during the same period in 2025. The Group’s strong performance was supported by higher operating income, continued growth in digital lending, customer deposits and total assets, reflecting sustained business activity across its markets. The Group operates across Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda 

Markets by Numbers 

Currency markets indicate the US dollar weaker today. The Greenback is trading against the Euro at 1.15347 while trading against the Pound at 1.34519 The Yen is currently trading at 157.42 to the dollar. The rand (ZAR), is currently trading around the 16.35 mark against the US dollar this morning.

Commodities:  

• Gold futures are trading 0.8% higher this morning, and currently trading at around $4283.55 per ounce.  
• Copper prices are around 0.12% up this morning, with prices currently around $6.7107 per pound
• Silver futures are up by 0.5% today, and currently trading at around $62.390 per ounce.
• Platinum futures are up around 1.2% this morning, and currently trading at $1775.30 while Palladium is 0.84% higher today, and currently trading around $1381.00 per ounce.
• Lithium prices are trading 0.18% higher today and currently at CNY140 250
• Brent crude oil prices are trending 0.5% higher today, and currently trading around $79.79 with WTI trading at $75.48 currently
• Cocoa futures are down by -1.28% today, and currently trading at $5848 per ton. 
• Coffee futures are up by around 0.66% today, and currently trading at around $3.2625 per pound

Crypto Currencies: 

• Bitcoin prices are down by around 0.18% today, currently trading at around $64 483 per coin.
• Ether prices are trending lower by -0.47% this morning, and currently trading around $1897.68

(All prices as quoted at approximately 04H50 Central African Time) 

African General News Briefs:

• South African officials believe wider migration talks among all African nations could address the broader causes of the migration crisis throughout the continent. The African Union (AU), which includes 55 member nations, rejected a proposal last week by Ghana to add the South African Anti Immigrant protest marches and violence, to the agenda of the AU’s next coordination meeting in October. South Africa’s divisive migration situation is expected to be discussed by national leaders later this month at a Southern African Development Community summit in South Africa, 
• The rights of property owners has been the focus of a High Court, and high profile case in the Western Cape High Court in Cape Town this week. At stake is the constitutionally declared rights of property owners that are being challenged by the South African President with new legislation proposing a “Nil compensation clause” in cases of property expropriation by the government. The ruling ANC led alliance has argued that property rights are not absolute while social movement Rule of Law, has argued that the constitutionally declared rights of property owners requires market related compensation to be paid in such cases and that Nil is not a value nor market related. The Government previously attempted to revise the section 12(3) of the constitution and failed and are now trying to circumvent this by making a “nil” value effective.