Breaking News Today – Tuesday 12 May 2026

African Start-up News Headlines:

• Guinean fintech startup Cauridor, who have developed remittance infrastructure, has secured a $2 million (USD) investment from Proparco as part of its ongoing Series A round, bringing total funding so far to $13 million. Backed by Flourish Ventures and LoftyInc Capital, Cauridor aims to reduce the high cost and inefficiencies of cross-border payments across Africa. This follows a $3.5 million seed funding round in 2026, and will support further engineering, integrations, and expansion across West and Central Africa, according to founders Oumar Barry and Abdoulaye Bah.
• Beltone Venture Capital (part of Egypt’s Beltone Holding) and UAE-based Citadel International Holdings have successfully exited their joint investment in Bosta, a leading Egyptian logistics and last-mile delivery technology startup. The deal delivered a strong 75% internal rate of return (IRR), marking Beltone VC’s fifth successful exit since launching in 2023 and the second from their joint fund with Citadel
• Funding for Startups in Africa for April 2026 saw around $110-145M raised across 34 deals, with concentration in top performers such as Egyptian fintech Lucky’s $23M Series B raise. Broader startup ecosystem saw subdued monthly volumes with concentration of capital into in fintech, energy, mobility, and agtech sectors.

Business News Today 

New Cocoa Crop Funding Plan for Ghana

Ghana is planning to raise $1 billion through domestic bonds to fund cocoa purchases from farmers ahead of the 2026/2027 crop season, as the country seeks to overhaul how it finances and delivers cocoa to global buyers. The Ghana Cocoa Board says favorable domestic interest rates—following a series of Bank of Ghana rate cuts that brought the benchmark rate to 14%—make this the right moment to reduce reliance on foreign lenders and dollar funding. The move comes amid serious liquidity stress: the state cocoa buyer PBC has accumulated $60 million in debt, leaving thousands of farmers unpaid for already-delivered produce. Cocoa prices collapsed sharply after their historic 2024 rally, exposing deep structural vulnerabilities in Ghana’s cocoa financing model that this bond issuance is designed to address before the next season begins around August. Cocoa prices have spiked by over 12,6% today, partly in response to the initiative and concerns of crop size in the coming season.

East African States Collaborate on new Satellite Initiative

Several East African nations have agreed to collaborate on a regional satellite initiative, reflecting momentum in Africa’s space sector. Governments continent-wide allocated $828 million to space activities this year, a 32% increase, highlighting priorities in connectivity, Earth observation, climate monitoring, and digital infrastructure. The project, supported by Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan and Uganda, aims to enhance shared capabilities in telecommunications, disaster management, and agricultural data, reducing reliance on foreign satellite services while building local expertise. It aligns with broader African Union goals for technological sovereignty and intra-African collaboration. Experts note potential for cost-sharing, talent development, and private-sector involvement, though challenges like funding sustainability and regulatory harmonization remain. The project is set to commence with a jointly funded feasibility study expected to take 12-18 months, with each country contributing $250,000 to fund the study.

Inflation in Mozambique hits Six-Month High

The annual inflation rate in Mozambique accelerated for the third consecutive month, reaching a six-month high of 4.41% in April 2026. The increase was attributed to severe flooding in recent months and fuel supply constraints in several parts of the country, which caused shortages and disrupted the distribution of essential goods. Price pressures were most pronounced in food & non-alcoholic beverages (10.24% vs 6.20% in March); clothing & footwear (5.23% vs 4.68%); restaurants & hotels (4.58% vs 5.30%) and recreation & culture (3.96% vs 3.48%). On a monthly basis, the CPI rose by 0.63%, after a 0.22% increase in the month before. 

Breaking Business and Market News Shorts:  

• South Africa’s 10-year bond yield rose further to around 8.69%, a near one-week high, amid rising political uncertainty and ongoing geopolitical risks. President Cyril Ramaphosa is facing renewed pressure after the Constitutional Court ruled that Parliament acted unconstitutionally in blocking an impeachment inquiry into the 2022 Phala Phala scandal.
• The annual inflation rate in Senegal remained at 1.4% in April 2026, unchanged from March’s three-month high. The main upward pressure came from food and non-alcoholic beverages inflation, which remained elevated at 1.7%, unchanged from March
• India’s BSE Sensex opened about 0.9% lower at 75,355 this morning, marking a fourth consecutive session of losses, pressured by higher oil prices and growing perceptions that a US-Iran ceasefire or settlement remains unstable. Crude prices surged again after remarks suggested that US-Iran negotiations were nearing collapse.
• The TAIEX, Taiwan’s index, lifted 238 points, or 0.6%, to 42,028 in early today, extending gains for a second straight session and hitting a record high, supported by tech stocks. The broader index tracked a Wall Street rally on Monday, buoyed by strength in chip-related stocks.
• China’s total vehicle sales fell 2.5% year-on-year to 2.526 million units in April 2026, following a 0.6% decline in the previous month, according to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). 

Markets by Numbers 

Currency markets indicate the US dollar gaining ground against major currencies today. The Greenback is trading against the Euro at 1.17576 while trading against the Pound at 1.35860. The Yen is currently trading at 157.57 to the dollar. The rand (ZAR), is currently trading around the 16.47 mark against the US dollar this morning.

Commodities:  

• Gold futures are trending -0.4% lower, and currently trading at around $4715.23 per ounce.  
• Copper prices are trending 0.45% higher today, with prices currently around $6.4422 per pound
• Silver futures are trending lower today, and currently trading at around $85.945 per ounce.
• Platinum futures are down around -0.8% this morning, and currently trading at $2108.00, While Palladium prices are sliding, down -0.49%, and currently trading around $1511.00 per ounce.
• Brent crude oil prices are trending higher and currently trading around $104.79. WTI is trading at $98.94 currently
• Cocoa futures have surged by 12.6% this morning, with prices currently around $4709 per ton. 
• Coffee futures are trending around 2.7% higher today, and currently trading at around $2.8230 per pound

Crypto Currencies: 

• Bitcoin prices are trending lower this morning, and trading at around $81 258 per coin currently 
• Ether prices are trending -1.2% lower today, and currently trading around $2311.34
• $Trumpcoin are currently trading lower at around $2.405

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

African General News Briefs:

• South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced last night that he has no intention of resigning from office and intends to challenge a previous report issued. The court directed Parliament to properly address the Section 89 panel report regarding a “financial transaction” in 2022, thereby reopening the possibility of a comprehensive impeachment inquiry against him. The message followed a critical ruling by the Constitutional Court on Friday (8 May), where it ruled that the National Assembly acted unlawfully when it voted in December 2022 to dismiss the Section 89 Independent Panel report regarding President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala scandal.
• The Africa Forward summit opened in Nairobi, Kenya yesterday. It is the first Africa–France cooperation meeting to be held in an English-speaking country in Africa. The summit is co-chaired by Kenyan President William Ruto and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, who is promoting European engagement in response to China’s expansion strategy on the continent.
• Today will mark the inauguration of the President of Uganda. Yoweri Museveni is being sworn in for a seventh term after winning the January 15 election with 71.65% of the vote against 24.72% for his main opponent, Bobi Wine, according to official results. He has been in power continuously since January 1986 — about 40 years.