Breaking News Today – Tuesday 14 July 2026

African Start-up News Headlines:

• Nigerian fintech Nearpays which uses its SoftPOS technology to enable point-of-sale payments via regular android smartphones, has won the United Nation’s AI for Good Innovation Factory grand finale. This makes Nearpays the first African startup ever to take the global title in the competition, which runs as part of the United Nations’ AI for Good Global Summit. The competition saw more than 500 startups worldwide, each pitching AI solutions aimed at social and economic challenges. Nearpays qualified for the Geneva global final after winning the regional African round in Johannesburg
• Timon, the stable-coin based travel payments startup, has scaled up its Kenyan operations after crossing 100,000 users across Africa. This is a milestone that highlights rising demand for cross-border financial tools built for Africans who increasingly earn, live, and travel internationally. The expansion follows fresh backing from Alliance, one of the world’s leading accelerators for crypto startups. Timon now operates across 16 African countries, with Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, and South Africa as its largest markets. Kenya has emerged as one of its fastest-growing
  

Business News Today 

De Beers to Shut Major South African Diamond Mine

Diamond Mining Major De Beers, announced on Monday (July 13) that it will pause production at the Venetia mine, South Africa’s largest diamond mine by value and output share, for a period of two years to cut costs amid persistently tough trading conditions in the rough diamond market. Located in Limpopo near the Botswana and Zimbabwe borders, it has operated under De Beers for over 30 years. It accounts for more than 40% of South Africa’s annual diamond production and is the country’s top producer by value. It produced about 2.23 million carats in 2025 (roughly 10% of De Beers’ global output) and employs around 4,400 staff. “Rough diamond trading conditions are expected to remain challenging in the near-term,” with oversupply, declining prices, and weak demand. De Beers is also rephasing capital expenditure on the mine’s underground project.

The declining market has been impacted by lab-grown diamonds, which are significantly cheaper and have captured substantial market share, especially in the US and among younger buyers. Weak demand for raw diamonds has persisted, particularly from key luxury markets like China, compounded by conservative inventory management in the midstream and macroeconomic headwinds.

Eastern Cape Gets SpeckBoom Business Boost from Amazon.

Amazon is set to invest around $500 million in a major nature-based carbon removal project in South Africa’s Eastern Cape and forms part of one of the world’s largest such initiatives. Centred on the small town of Jansenville in the Albany Thicket biome (Eastern Cape), a semi-arid region with significant degraded land, Amazon has plans to restore more than 50,000 hectares of degraded landscapes by planting 180 million spekboom (Portulacaria afra – a hardy, indigenous succulent known for its exceptional carbon sequestration) cuttings by the end of 2028. The project is expected to generate 1.95 million metric tons of carbon removal credits over more than a decade and will create around 11,000 jobs by 2030, primarily in planting, maintenance, ecological restoration training, and related local businesses.

Amazon’s primary driver is its Climate Pledge commitment to reach net-zero carbon across its operations by 2040. This project supplies high-quality, nature-based carbon removal credits that Amazon will purchase (a significant portion of the project’s output) to offset its emissions.

CoCoa and Coffee Cartel Proposed

Africa grows a major percentage of global the coffee and cocoa but control over the value chain is held by trading houses and distribution and downstream manufacturers outside the continent. Experts say the answer is not begging for higher prices for raw beans, but rather It is building local processing, brands, and distribution networks that keep the wealth on the continent.

In Response, Presidents Alassane Ouattara (Ivory Coast) and John Mahama (Ghana), have agreed to revive what is being called the ‘Cocoa OPEC’, a coordinated strategy to harmonise farm-gate prices and align crop calendars across both countries. They have invited Cameroon and Nigeria, the region’s smaller producers, to join. Analysts however point out that simply controlling the farm gate price is not likely too yield results, and that African states should look to build downstream manufacturing capacity. Cocoa prices are currently just over -56% down year-on-year and this is creating issues for local farmers. This while globally prices of chocolates and cocoa based drinks continue to lift.

Breaking Business and Market News Shorts:  

• Gold futures have held above $4,000 an ounce this morning, after drifting nearly -3%, to around $3990 in yesterday’s trading session. Gold has seen a decline of over 2% in the last week and is down -6.82 in the last month. Year-on-year the yellow metal is however up by 20.77%.
• China’s trade surplus increased in June 2026 to $125.62 billion, up from $113.89 billion in June of 2025. This was above market expectations of $121 billion and the second-largest monthly trade surplus on record. Export growth accelerated to 27.0% year-on-year, reaching a record high of USD 412.39 billion, up from May’s 19.4% growth and above forecasts of 18.2%
• Project capital of R964-million is to be spent this year and next on upgrading Sibanye-Stillwater’s K4 platinum group metals (PGMs) project at Marikana in South Africa’s North West province. The project is reportedly on track for steady-state production
• Platinum futures traded just above $1,600 an ounce this morning, holding near late-November 2025 levels. The metal was pressured by broad weakness across precious metals as escalating tensions over the Strait of Hormuz revived inflation concerns. 
• Zinc futures have held around $3,560 per tonne today, staying close to a four-year high as a reported fire at a sulphuric acid unit at a South Korean zinc smelter added to supply concerns. This followed recent disruptions at key facilities, with Glencore’s Kazzinc in Kazakhstan continuing to run at reduced capacity after an explosion

Markets by Numbers 

Currency markets indicate the US dollar trading level today. The Greenback is trading against the Euro at 1.13948 while trading against the Pound at 1.33675 The Yen is currently trading at 162.29 to the dollar. The rand (ZAR), is currently trading around the 16.43 mark against the US dollar this morning.

Commodities:  

• Gold futures are around 0.6% higher this morning, and currently trading at around $4026.00 per ounce.  
• Copper prices are around 1.49% higher this morning, with prices currently around $6.3266 per pound
• Silver futures are around 0.98% higher today, and currently trading at around $58.157 per ounce.
• Platinum futures are around 0.68% higher this morning, currently trading at $1624.60, while Palladium is around 1.52% higher today, and currently trading around $1227.00 per ounce.
• Lithium continues prices are level today and trading at 154 000
• Brent crude oil prices are trending around 1.44% higher today, and currently trading around $84.50, with WTI trading at $79.38 currently
• Cocoa futures have dived by around -3.6% today, currently trading at $5842 per ton. 
• Coffee futures are down by over -1.2% today, and currently trading at around $3.30 per pound

Crypto Currencies: 

• Bitcoin prices are 0.85% up today, currently trading at around $62 759 per coin.
• Ether prices are trending 0.87% higher this morning, and currently trading around $1788.87

(All prices quoted at approximately 07H35 Central African Time) 

African General News Briefs:

• Vusimusi “Cat” Matlala, a key figure in the ongoing Madlanga commission into police corruption inquiry in South Africa, has withdrawn from a controversial plea deal, serving a blow to prosecutors. The gangster styled “businessman”, pulled out of the agreement after a South African court recommended a higher jail sentence – 12 years instead of the agreed eight. Matlala was accused of bribing top police officials to win a 360m rand ($22m; £16.5m) tender for his health company Medicare24 in 2024.
• Gunmen have killed at least 18 people in Nigeria’s northern Benue state in ​an attack on Sunday, residents and local officials ‌confirmed yesterday, triggering a march by angry locals who blocked roads in protest at the violence. Benue has ​been the frequent scene of clashes involving ​farming communities and cattle herders, as well ⁠as attacks by armed groups, in ​conflicts often driven by competition over land and ​resources.