Breaking News Today – Tuesday 21 April 2026

African Start-up News Headlines:

• Ozow partners with Lula to expand digital funding pathways for South African SMEs: South African payments giant Ozow announced a new integration/partnership with Lula (formerly Lulalend), the all-digital SME funding platform, to make invoice financing and working-capital facilities more accessible to small businesses. The tie-up allows Ozow’s merchant network (already processing billions in transactions) to seamlessly refer or embed Lula’s fast-approval lending (up to R5 million in 24 hours) directly into the payment flow. Lula previously raised R340 million (around $21 million) from FMO in early 2026 to scale its lending-as-a-service model. The move targets the persistent SME finance gap in South Africa, where traditional banks still struggle with speed and collateral requirements.
• Zambia’s Green Fire Innovation unlocks maximum matching fund from Africa Catalytic after ZBAN investment: Zambia-based Green Fire Innovation Limited (a green tech/climate startup) secured full matching capital from the Africa Catalytic Fund following a USD 60,000 seed investment by the Zambia Business Angels Network (ZBAN). The unlock provides additional non-dilutive or concessional capital to accelerate the company’s clean-energy or circular-economy solution (exact product details remain under wraps pending official release).
• RootCamp Pilot Project Program closing deadline is today (April 21) for startups with ready-to-scale tech solutions: RootCamp is a German-based AgTech, Bio-economy, and Circular Economy innovation hub/accelerator (backed by SpinLab – The HHL Accelerator and corporate partners like K+S). It helps startups scale solutions in agriculture, food systems, sustainability, and related deep-tech areas. The program is open to startups from around the world, including many from Africa.

Business News Today 

First International Day of Women in Industry Observed Today

Today marks the first International Day of Women in Industry, with African Business highlighting women-led startups driving industrial change across the continent. Proclaimed by a landmark resolution at the UNIDO General Conference during the 2025 Global Industry Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It also commemorates the entry into force of UNIDO’s first Gender Policy in 2009. The stated purpose of this day is to celebrate women’s contributions to industrial development, highlight their leadership in the digital transition, AI, and the future of work, and push for greater inclusion.

It is aimed at addressing persistent gaps where women remain underrepresented in high-tech manufacturing, leadership roles, and access to skills, finance, and networks. This coincides with calls for inclusive policies to support female entrepreneurs in accessing finance and markets, positioning them as key players in Africa’s industrial transformation. Surprisingly no large-scale standalone physical events are scheduled across Africa today with the primary focus being the Vienna global observance event at its headquarters in the Vienna International Centre.

US to Invest in South African Rare Earth Recovery Project

Putting aside current hostilities with South Africa, the US has agreed to invest in a key rare earth minerals development on the site of a former chemical plant in the Limpopo Province, South Africa. The US has reportedly committed to a $50 million investment in the project despite its relations with South Africa falling to all-time lows recently. The giant dunes which are waste materials from an old chemical processing plant, contain highly sought-after rare earth elements. The Phalaborwa Rare Earths Project has US support through a $50 million equity investment by the US government’s International Development Finance Corporation. This forms part of the country’s accelerated efforts to reduce its reliance on its economic rival China. The minerals are crucial for making electronic devices, robotics, defence systems, electric vehicles and other high-tech products.

Ethiopian Airlines Aims at Ambitious Growth

Africa’s largest carrier Ethiopian Airlines on Monday said it is buying six additional Boeing ​787-9 Dreamliner jets (part of the original 20 aircraft originally flagged for purchase) as it looks to expand its long-haul flights ‌across Africa and to the U.S., Europe as well as Asia. In addition Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO Mesfin Tasew commented that “There are mature routes we need,” he said, including some ​in Africa where Ethiopian Airlines would like to fly larger airplanes. “There are routes ​that we wanted to fly, but we couldn’t do because of shortage of airplanes – like Australia.”

Ethiopian Airlines is Africa’s largest international carrier by scheduled seats and destinations, with a strong presence in Africa (roughly 65+ cities), Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the Americas. The airline is expanding in 2026 with new or resumed routes, including: Lyon, France (starting July 2, 2026), Resumed Atlanta, USA service (from May 21, 2026)Additional frequencies or new points in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere. Long-term ambition — Ethiopian aims to grow its total destinations toward 240+ cities by 2040 as part of its Vision 2040 strategy.

Breaking Business and Market News Shorts:  

• Apple has appointed John Ternus as its new chief executive who will replace Tim Cook who is exiting his role after 15 years of leading the technology giant. Ternus, is currently the head of hardware engineering and has been at Apple for 25 years. He will take over as of 1 September while Cook will become executive chairman.
• Uganda’s central bank said yesterday it had begun active gold purchasing from ​domestic producers under a programme announced two ‌years ago to incorporate gold holdings as part of the country’s foreign reserves.The first purchases was made ​last Friday, according to the Bank of Uganda.
• Amazon announced yesterday that it will invest up to $25 ​billion in Anthropic, as the AI startup commits to ‌spending more than $100 billion over the next 10 years on Amazon’s cloud technologies. The deal looks to deepen the two firms’ relationship as Anthropic rushes to secure capacity ​to bolster its models.
• China’s urban youth unemployment rate for those aged 16–24, excluding students, rose to 16.9% in March 2026 from 16.1% in the previous month, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. The increase marked the highest level since November 2025
• Copper futures slipped below $6 per pound this morning, remaining under pressure as investors stayed cautious ahead of further US-Iran peace negotiations. Both sides are expected to send delegations to Islamabad for a second round of talks before the current ceasefire expires. Prices have since recovered slightly to just above $6 per pound.

Markets by Numbers 

Currency markets indicate the US dollar slightly stronger against major currencies today. The Greenback is trading against the Euro at 1.17812 while trading against the Pound at 1.35242. The Yen is currently trading at 158.89 to the dollar. The rand (ZAR), is currently trading around the 16.39 mark against the US dollar this morning.

Commodities:  

• Gold futures are down by around -0.7% today, and currently trading at around $4786.94 per ounce.  
• Copper prices are trending -0.4% lower today, with prices currently around $6.0112 per pound
• Silver futures are down by around -0.7% today, and currently trading at around $79.090 per ounce.
• Platinum futures are slightly higher this morning, and currently trading at $2089.80, While Palladium prices are trending marginally lower this morning, and currently trading around $1566.50 per ounce.
• Brent crude oil prices are trending around -1.6% lower today and currently trading around $93.94, WTI is trading over 2% lower at $85.67 currently
• Cocoa futures have gained some momentum this morning, lifting around 3.5%, with prices currently trading around $3395 per ton. 
• Coffee futures are trading 1.2% higher today, and currently trading at around $2.8775 per pound

Crypto Currencies: 

• Bitcoin prices are trending slightly higher this morning, and trading at around $75 906 per coin currently 
• Ether prices are around marginally higher today, and currently trading around $2316.56
• $Trumpcoin are currently trading at around $2.858

(All prices quoted at approximately 07H30 Central African Time) 

African General News Briefs:

• Pan-African and pro-Russian activist Kemi Seba has applied for political asylum in South Africa, where he is being detained for breaching immigration laws, his lawyer told AFP Monday. Seba, born in France, was arrested in South Africa Last week and is wanted in Benin on charges of inciting rebellion after backing a foiled coup in December 2025. The 45-year-old appeared in a Pretoria court on Monday alongside his 18-year-old son and a South African national.
• US authorities have arrested an Iranian woman for trafficking arms to Sudan on behalf of her country, According to US prosecutors.Iranian national, Shamim Mafi, who has an American green card, was arrested at Los Angeles airport and is accused of “brokering the sale of drones, bombs, bomb fuses, and millions of rounds of ammunition manufactured by Iran and sold to Sudan”, First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli said on X.