Breaking News Today – Tuesday 21 July 2026

African Start-up News Headlines:

• The Egyptian healthtech diagnostic solutions company Reme-D, has secured $1.45 million in a pre-Series A funding round led by Anara Impact Capital. The round also saw investment from the Global Innovation Fund, and Africa Health Ventures amongst others. The company will be using the funding to scale operations and further develop its research testing product for genetic conditions and cancer.
• Wamly, the South African recruitment platform, has closed its Series A funding round, co-led by Hlayisani Capital and Knife Capital. Founder and CEO Francois de Wet confirmed the news in a LinkedIn announcement. The platform combines one-way video interviewing, applicant tracking, psychometric assessments, and background checks into a single science-based hiring system. the round will fund deeper product work, AI integration across the hiring stack, geographic expansion, and additional hiring.
• Busha Business, the B2B infrastructure arm of Busha, has collaborated with Tether, the largest company in the digital asset industry and the issuer of USD₮, to expand access to licensed stablecoin infrastructure for African businesses. The collaboration seeks to enable businesses to access globally connected stablecoin liquidity for faster cross-border payments, more efficient treasury management, and quicker settlement of international transactions, reducing many of the delays and costs associated with traditional banking channels. 

Business News Today 

Ivory Coast Promoting “Champion Businesses”

The Ivory Coast government is looking to establish so-called “national champions” to fuel economic development and encourage the building of small and medium enterprises. Among those champions is oil and gas distributor, Petro Ivoire and cosmetics manufacturer Kaera. As a sign of investor confidence, Ivory Coast last week secured $80 billion in international public financing, equaling a raise of four times more than what was anticipated, for its 2026-2030 development plan. An additional R150 billion is expected to be raised from the private sector. Since the 2011 post-election crisis, the country has maintained an average annual growth rate of 6.5%, driven by major infrastructure investments and a steadily improving business environment. 

5G Spectrum Auction in Ghana

Ghana has launched a new 5G spectrum auction expected to raise over $200 million for the government. The National Communications Authority is offering spectrum in the 700 MHz, 2.3 GHz, and 3 GHz bands, with reserve prices starting at $10 million. This move marks a shift from Ghana’s previous plan for an exclusive nationwide wholesale 5G network. The move marks a significant policy shift from Ghana’s previous approach, which sought to deploy 5G through a single wholesale network provider. The government earlier revoked an exclusive agreement with NGIC, a consortium backed by Mukesh Ambani. Under the original arrangement, NGIC would have built and operated a nationwide wholesale 5G network, with mobile operators purchasing network capacity instead of deploying their own infrastructure. However, after President John Mahama’s administration took office, the agreement was reviewed amid concerns over transparency and competition.

Trans North-West African Gas Pipeline Deal Signed

West African leaders have signed an agreement approving the construction of a gas pipeline linking Nigeria to Morocco at a summit of regional bloc ECOWAS in Sierra Leone’s capital Freetown. The 6,000-kilometre Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline (NMGP) will cross 13 countries along Africa’s Atlantic coast, carrying Nigerian gas to Morocco before connecting to the Maghreb-Europe pipeline. Morocco’s state hydrocarbons agency ONHYM and Nigeria’s state oil company NNPC said in a statement that the project aimed to link west Africa’s gas resources to major regional markets. It also hopes to “strengthen the integration of African energy markets and create a new development corridor linking” west Africa, the Sahel, Morocco and Europe.

Breaking Business and Market News Shorts:  

• Brent crude dropped toward $88 per barrel this morning, easing slightly from five-week highs as hopes grew that peace negotiations between the US and Iran could resume after several days of escalating attacks. Mediators worked on Monday to encourage both sides to agree to a new ceasefire, while reports pointed to a possible 10-day truce. 
• The annual inflation rate in Ethiopia rose to 13.9% in June 2026, marking the highest level in a year and accelerating from 13.4% in the previous month. Food inflation accelerated to 15.1% from 15% in May, the highest level since January 2025, due to increases in most food commodities
• Gold, silver and copper have all seen futures lift this morning as tensions in the Iran conflict ease and demand improved. Copper supply has also tightened with production from Chile in question after a major storm interrupted production at several mining operations.
• Platinum futures fell below $1,600 an ounce earlier today, near late-November lows as the ongoing US-Iran conflict heightened the risk of energy-driven inflation and higher interest rates. prices have subsequently recovered above the $1620 mark.
• Lithium carbonate future prices fell over -4.9% to CNY 144,000 today, their lowest in over 5 months, driven by the outlook of higher global supply. CATL’s Jianxiawo mine, among the largest in the world, cleared security permits to restore activity following its prolonged suspension while Australian miners also look to restore mining production.

Markets by Numbers 

Currency markets indicate the US dollar trading fairly level today. The Greenback is trading against the Euro at 1.14167 while trading against the Pound at 1.34400 The Yen is currently trading at 162.51 to the dollar. The rand (ZAR), is currently trading around the 16.47 mark against the US dollar this morning.

Commodities:  

• Gold futures are up around 1.1% this morning, and currently trading at around $453.92 per ounce.  
• Copper prices are around 1.2% higher this morning, with prices currently around $6.3800 per pound
• Silver futures are around 2.8% higher today, and currently trading at around $58.001 per ounce.
• Platinum futures are around 1% higher this morning, currently trading at $1622.30, while Palladium is around 0.3% higher today, and currently trading around $1272.50 per ounce.
• Lithium continues prices are down around -4.95% today and trading at CNY144 000
• Brent crude oil prices are trending around -0.67% lower today, and currently trading around $88.62, with WTI trading at $82.27 currently
• Cocoa futures are marginally softer today, and currently trading at $5520 per ton. 
• Coffee futures are up by over 1.3% today, and currently trading at around $3.2455 per pound

Crypto Currencies: 

• Bitcoin prices are up 0.49% today, currently trading at around $65 542 per coin.
• Ether prices are trending 1% higher this morning, and currently trading around $1923.64

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

African General News Briefs:

• Nigeria and Ghana have strongly condemned what they have named as the recent “Afrophobic protests targeting African nationals in South Africa.” In a statement, Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the two countries want the issue placed on the agenda at the next African Union summit. The foreign ministers of Nigeria and Ghana held talks over the weekend on the sidelines of the ECOWAS meeting in Liberia. 
• The President of São Tomé and Príncipe, Carlos Vila Nova, has been re-elected to a second five-year term, preliminary presidential election results show. According to the country’s electoral commission, Vila Nova received more than 55 percent of the vote, avoiding a second-round run-off. His main rival Nito Abreu, a member of parliament backed by the prime minister, got 41 percent.