Breaking News Today – Tuesday 15 July 2025

Business & Tech News 

US Start-up Investments Spike on AI Developments:

U.S. start-up funding saw a remarkable growth in H1 of 2025 of 75.6%. This was primarily driven by the current AI industry explosion and further developments in the related cloud computing and data management. Start-up funding from Jan-June 2025, grew to $162.8 billion, making it the best performance since H1 of 2025, which was during the period of zero interest rates in the US, when central banks had cut rates to stimulate economic activity during the COVID-19 pandemic. VC monitoring Pitchbook’s data released today however, indicates that venture capital firms had increasingly been finding headwinds in terms of hitting required capital raises.

SA Vehicle Exports Hit by Tariffs

South African vehicle exports to the United States plunged in the first quarter of 2025, with more than an 80% drop in April and May after import tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump hit automakers’ sales, industry association naamsa said. The United States is South Africa’s second-largest trading partner and key destination for vehicles manufactured in the country, which have long benefitted from duty-free access under the U.S AGOA free trade deal. Auto exports to the U.S. sank 73% in the first quarter compared to the same period last year, followed by declines of 80% in April and 85% in May, Naamsa said.

The industry body indicated that the sharp decline would be virtually impossible to recover from in the short term. The South African economy grew by just 0.1% on quarter in Q1 2025, following a downwardly revised 0.4% increase in the previous quarter, while analysts predicted stagnation of Africas largest economy.

African Continent Free From Financial Distress Status States

According to new data from JPMorgan Chase. data. Africa has emerged from a period of high sovereign risk distress, with Mozambique the last African state to reduce its debt levels to below a distress point. This leaves no remaining African states in the category of a distressed economy and follows a period of more than ten-years characterised by high levels of borrowing at low interest rates driven by development needs. The average additional yield on Mozambique’s bonds over US Treasuries fell below 1 000 basis points this month, making it the last country on the continent to retreat from levels widely considered to indicate debt distress.

Business, Tech & Market News Shorts: 

• xAi, the tech company that developed Grok, the Gen-AI platform, has won a $200 million deal to supply AI to the pentagon. The deal was announced on yesterday and forms part of its “Grok for Government” programme, and aligns with the Trump administration’s push for more aggressive adoption of artificial intelligence.
• Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang has announced in a blog post that the technology giant has received approval from the Trump administration to sell its advanced H20 AI proccessor chips to China. “The U.S. government has assured Nvidia that licenses will be granted, and Nvidia hopes to start deliveries soon,” the post said.
• General Motors yesterday announced a major investment in it battery manufacturing capacity with a joint venture partnership with LG Energy Solution that will see it upgrade its Ultium battery factory to make lithium-iron-phosphate cells for the automaker’s low-cost EVs, reducing dependence on China.
• The Japanese Yen traded around 147.6 per dollar this morning, close to its lowest level in two months, with persistent trade-related tensions raging the currency lower with trade negotiations with the US seemingly stalled.
• China’s industrial capacity utilisation rate (ICR) and retail growth rate decreased, with ICR down to 74 percent in the second quarter of 2025 from 74.9 percent in the same period a year earlier. This marked the lowest rate since the first quarter of 2020, mainly due to a decline in mining production. This while China’s retail sales increased by 4.8% year-on-year in June 2025, slowing from 6.4% and missing market expectations of a 5.6% gain. This marked the weakest growth in retail sales since February.

Markets by Numbers 

Currencies: 

Currency markets today indicate the US Dollar is fairly flat against the Euro at 1.16821 and against the Pound at 1.34418. The Yen is currently at 147.57 to the dollar. The rand is currently at R17.88 to the US dollar. 

Commodities:

• Gold futures prices are trading 0,6%higher this morning, and are currently at $3364 per ounce.  
• Copper prices are trending upwards today, with prices currently at $5.5061 
• Silver futures prices are trading 0,4% higher this morning, and are currently at $38.297
• Platinum futures are around 0,45% higher this morning, and are currently trading at $1406 . Palladium prices are trading lower this morning and currently at $1240.50
• Brent crude oil prices are currently at $68.99, with WTI trading at $66.75. 
• Cocoa futures have jumped by 1,35% this morning, and currently at $8287.00 per ton. 
• Coffee futures have had a spike in price of over 3% this morning, and currently at $305.70

Crypto Currencies:

• Bitcoin prices have dropped by over -2% today, and currently at $117229
• Ether prices are currently down more than 1,6% and currently at $2970
• $Trumpcoin is currently trading around 7% lower at $9.17

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

Other Breaking News in Africa Today 

Ex Nigerian President Buhari to be Buried Today

Nigeria’s late former President Muhammadu, who past away in a London clinic this past Sunday aged 82, will be buried in his northern home state of Katsina on Tuesday, according to a statement from the state governor. Buhari, who had been a former military ruler after a coup in the 1980s, returned to frontline politics to become the first Nigerian president to oust an incumbent through the ballot box in 2015. He was re-elected for a second term four years later. Katsina state governor Dikko Umaru Radda said after consultation with Buhari’s family it was agreed the body would arrive in Nigeria on Tuesday for burial the same day in his home town of Daura. Buhari earned a dedicated public following for his stance of anti-corruption in politics.