Breaking News Today – Tuesday 30 June 2026

African Start-up News Headlines:

• Open Startup, the pan-African Startup Support organisation, has celebrated its 10-year anniversary with the launch of a new undertaking – The Science Road, a new strategic project, aimed at strengthening African science based projects, deep tech and research-led innovation. They will support ventures in these categories as they move out of lab and testing environments into globally competitive industries. This is often where startups fail as the struggle to penetrate markets. Open Startup has spent the past decade supporting more than 3,000 entrepreneur founders and over 1,000 startups across more than 20 African countries.

Business News Today 

WhatsApp Introduces Usernames – Chat Without Sharing Your Phone Number

WhatsApp has announced a major platform privacy upgrade, where users will soon be able to chat using unique usernames instead of revealing their phone numbers for messaging. The new feature allows people to connect and communicate while keeping their personal phone number private.

The new feature will be rolled out in coming months and will see users creating a custom username (e.g., @johndoe) that others can use to start a chat. Phone numbers will still be required for account registration and security, but they will no longer need to be shared for everyday conversations. The update also includes improved privacy controls, giving users more flexibility over who can find them.

What This Means for Users

• Enhanced Privacy: Especially valuable in business, dating, and public-facing interactions where sharing a phone number carries risks.
• Easier Networking: Professionals and creators can share a username more freely without exposing personal contact details.
• Reduced Spam: Makes it harder for unwanted contacts to reach users via phone number.
• Global Relevance: Particularly beneficial in markets like Africa where mobile numbers are often linked to financial services and personal identity.

Murray & Roberts Completes R1.27 Billion Sale as Part of Business Rescue Plan

Murray & Roberts Limited (MRL) has successfully completed a R1.27 billion transaction, marking a key milestone in its business rescue process. The sale, finalised in recent days, forms the centrepiece of the company’s restructuring strategy aimed at stabilising operations and reducing debt. The transaction involved the disposal of a major non-core asset – their cementation and minning operation business, helping the engineering and construction group streamline its portfolio and improve liquidity. This move is expected to significantly strengthen the company’s balance sheet and provide breathing room to focus on core operations. The business rescue practitioners have described the sale as a critical step toward long-term sustainability. It comes after a challenging period for the group, which faced project delays, cost overruns, and liquidity pressures in recent years.

Some Fuel Price Relief for South Africa

Businesses and commuters in South Africa will start to see some relief at the fuel pumps as of tomorrow (1 July) with the Department of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, announcing the monthly official fuel price adjustments. With the lower oil prices, and the rand (ZAR) remaining fairly strong against a stronger US dollar in June, petrol price recoveries were around R3 per litre, with diesel recoveries at R5 per litre that would ordinarily have seen this full amount sliced off the retail fuel prices.

However, the National Treasury will remove the R3.00 per litre and R3.93 per litre, fuel saving as of 1 July, that was introduced via a levy cut during record high price constraints. This will result in R1.50 per litre being added back to petrol prices, effectively halving the over-recovery and leading to only a R2 per litre cut in prices. With diesel, a price of R1.97 is being added back to the price, leading to wholesale prices being cut by between R3.14 and R3.59 per litre.

Breaking Business and Market News Shorts:  

• British American Tobacco, is set to cut almost 20% of its global workforce as part of a major cost-cutting drive. The tobacco major, which makes Lucky Strike and Dunhill cigarettes, will be cutting 5,500 jobs and outsourcing 3,500 more. It did not specify where the cuts would be made yet.
• Gold prices weakened to below $4,000 an ounce this morning, hitting its lowest levels in nearly eight months, and was on track for a fourth consecutive monthly decline amid Middle East uncertainties and expectations that the US Federal Reserve will raise interest rates this year. 
• Platinum futures fell further below $1,580 an ounce, hitting a fresh seven-month low and heading for steep second straight monthly and quarterly losses as Middle East uncertainties and wagers of US interest rate hikes dampened demand. 
• Yesterday saw South Africa’s 10-year government bond yield holding around 8.36%, close to the lowest since mid-June, as investors monitored fresh developments in the Middle East, while also eyeing upcoming key domestic data. 
• Bitcoin has hit a 19-month low and traded at around $59 363 today, dropping -1.30% since the previous trading session. Looking back, over the last four weeks, Bitcoin lost 19.33%. Over the last 12 months, its price fell by 43.85%.

Markets by Numbers 

Currency markets indicate the US dollar strengthening today. The Greenback is trading against the Euro at 1.13910 while trading against the Pound at 1.32304 The Yen is currently trading at 162.24 to the dollar. The rand (ZAR), is currently trading around the 16.45 mark against the US dollar this morning.

Commodities:  

• Gold futures are around -0.89% lower this morning, and currently trading at around $3979.09 per ounce.  
• Copper prices are around 0.3% higher this morning, with prices currently around $61.189 per pound
• Silver futures are around -1.6% lower today, after a steep drop yesterday, and currently trading at around $57.352 per ounce.
• Platinum futures are around -0.96% lower this morning, currently trading at $1576.50, While Palladium is around -0.25% lower today, and currently trading around $1219.00 per ounce.
• Brent crude oil prices are trending around-0.6% lower today, and currently trading around $73.43, with WTI trading at $70.19 currently
• Cocoa futures are down around -2.5% today, dropping below the $5000 mark, and currently trading at $4967 per ton. 
• Coffee futures are trending around 1.68% higher today, and currently trading at around $2.7780 per pound

Crypto Currencies: 

• Bitcoin prices continue to fall and are -1 lower today, and trading at around $59 535 per coin currently 
• Ether prices are -1.27% lower this morning, and currently trading around $1589.40
• $Trumpcoin are currently trading at around $1.667

(All prices quoted at approximately 07H50 Central African Time) 

African General News Briefs:

• Former South African President, Thabo Mbeki, has taken issue with current President, Cyril Ramaphosa’s position on illegal immigration in the country that has seen protests and violence spiralling in past weeks. In particular Mbeki took aim at Ramaphosa’s assertion that “almost all South Africans recognise illegal immigration is a significant challenge” – as he did in his 7 June address to the nation. Mbeki has stated that when a serious threat to a country is asserted, the president is obliged to lead the country to confront the problem. This was raised in his discussion document published on the Thabo Mbeki Foundation website
• At least three people have been killed after torrential rains triggered severe flooding across Ghana’s capital, Accra. Reports indicate that emergency crews used boats to rescue trapped residents, including at least 15 children and an infant, as rising floodwaters submerged homes, roads and vehicles. Authorities say one man drowned in the Alajo district, while two others were electrocuted after floodwaters came into contact with electrical wiring inside their home.