Breaking News Today – Wednesday 21 January 2026

Business News Today 

Financial Heavy Weight Weighs in on OpenAi’s Success Possibility

George Noble, a financial founder of multiple Billion dollar hedge funds and a former Peter Lynch assistant, has raised a warning over OpenAi and says the company is “falling apart in real time”. According to Noble, OpenAI lost $12 BILLION in a single quarter as revealed in Microsoft’s own fiscal disclosures while Deutsche Bank estimates a $143 billion cumulative negative cash flow before the company turns profitable. OpeAi analysts put it bluntly: “No startup in history has operated with losses on anything approaching this scale.” They’re burning $15 million per day on Sora alone. $5 billion annually to generate copyright-infringing memes.

Noble points out that Sora’s own lead engineer admitted the “economics are currently completely unsustainable.” There is a compute issue that according to Noble, nobody wants to discuss: It’s going to cost 5x the energy and money to make these models 2x better. With the low-hanging fruit in the Ai market gone and every incremental improvement now requiring exponentially more compute, more data centres, more power, and with reports suggesting OpenAI’s large training runs in 2025 failed to produce models better than prior versions, is there a pathway to profit before it implodes?

IMF Raises South Africa Growth Forecasts for 2025–2026

The IMF has upgraded South Africa’s growth forecast from 1.3% and projected a 1.4% growth rate for 2026, reflecting resilience and reform momentum. This aligns with World Bank views of gradual acceleration to 1.5% by 2027, signalling improved investor outlook for Africa’s largest economy amid energy and logistics progress.Meanwhile South Africa is on Track for 3% Inflation Target in 2026, according to South African Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago, who stated inflation is poised to hit the new 3% target in 2026, with 2025 averaging around 3.6%. Speaking from Davos, he noted progress toward macroeconomic stability, boosting confidence in SA’s trajectory after recent reforms and institutional rebuilding. Kganyago also emphasised the country’s role in critical minerals for energy/digital transitions and as an investment destination.

Netflix Beats Revenue Estimates Amid Escalating Warner Bros. Bidding War

Netflix Inc. reported fourth-quarter 2025 revenue of $10.2 billion, slightly surpassing analyst estimates of $10.1 billion, driven by robust subscriber growth to 325 million globally. The company added 8.5 million net subscribers, fueled by hit shows like Squid Game: Season 2 and expanded ad-supported tiers, which saw ad revenue jump 35% year-over-year to $1.2 billion. For full-year 2026, Netflix forecasted revenue between $50.7 billion and $51.7 billion, implying 12-14% growth. The results were above expected revenue Estimates however Netflix’s share prices dropped with Warner Bros bidding war weighing in on investor sentiment.Yesterday saw Netflix amended its bid for Warner shift to an all-cash offer, gaining unanimous WBD board support and accelerating a shareholder vote by April, to thwart Paramount and provide value certainty amid stock fluctuations. Analysts note the acquisition could bolster Netflix’s content library and scale against rivals like Disney

U.S. Visa Bond Program Implementation Hits African Tech/Business Travel

Starting today, the revised U.S. visa bond pilot requires refundable security deposits of between $5,000–$15,000 for B1/B2 visas (Business and Tourism Visa categories) from dozens of countries, including Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, Ethiopia, Morocco, and more—expanding to 38 nations total. Aimed at curbing overstays, it creates major financial barriers for African founders, investors, executives, and freelancers seeking U.S. market access, fundraising, accelerators, or partnerships. In Africa’s booming tech scene (where U.S. investors back significant VC deals), this risks freezing working capital, limiting Silicon Valley ties, and slowing ecosystem growth—prompting concerns from startups and chambers across the continent.

Breaking News Shorts:  

• Global tech consultancy Thoughtworks unveiled AI/works™, an agentic AI-powered platform for modernising legacy systems and building next-gen industrial-grade software/products. It supports both brownfield upgrades and greenfield development in the AI era, integrating design, engineering, and autonomous agents to accelerate agile processes.
• Shares in major U.S. banks fell yesterday as markets awaited outcomes on the Trump administration’s proposed credit card interest rate caps, adding pressure to financial institutions amid broader financial sector volatility from trade and policy concerns.
• The dollar index slipped to around 98.5 on Wednesday, falling for a third consecutive session as heightened tensions between the US and Europe over President Donald Trump’s escalating threats over Greenland hurt confidence in American assets. 
• Anthropic Chief Executive Officer and co-founder Dario Amodei has told Bloomberg that the US embargo on chip sales to Beijing is what is holding Chinese companies back. “I think it would be a big mistake to ship these chips,” he said during a discussion at Bloomberg House on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
• US Secretary Lutnick at a WEF panel discussion at Davos yesterday said that “Globalisation had failed the US and the Western Nations” and commented that Why would the EU decide to go Net-Zero by 2030 while “The EU doesn’t produce a single battery.” Lutnick stressed that The EU was making themselves subservient to China while the US was busy rectifying policy to put American workers first.

Markets by Numbers 

Currency markets indicate the US dollar weakening today, with the Euro trading against the US dollar at 1.17160 while the Pound is trading at 1.34372 to the US dollar. The Yen is currently trading at 158.16 to the dollar. The rand (ZAR) is currently trading at around R16.38 to the dollar.

Commodities:  

• Gold futures have hit another new high today and are currently up by more than 2.3% this morning, and currently trading at around $4873.71per ounce.  
• Copper prices are trending higher today, with prices currently around $58.588 per pound
• Silver futures have hit new highs, and currently trading around $94.837 per ounce.
• Platinum futures are trending upward this morning, and currently trading at $2468.30, While Palladium prices have climbed further this morning, and currently trading around $1913.50 per ounce.
• Brent crude oil prices are trending lower today, and currently at $64.29 with WTI trading higher at $59.88
• Cocoa futures have plunged by over 8% today, and currently trading around $4648 per ton. 
• Coffee futures are currently -2% lower today, and trading at around $3.4580 per pound

Crypto Currencies: 

• Bitcoin prices are trending upwards this morning, and trading at around $89868 per coin currently 
• Ether prices are trending higher, and are currently trading around $2990.80
• $Trumpcoin are trending lower today, and currently trading around $4.931

(All prices quoted at approximately 07H55 Central African Time) 

Africa News Briefs:

• Moroccan Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch has held discussions with a delegation from the U.S. congress. Akhannouch presented his country’s reform projects and underlined the U.S.’ backing of the autonomy initiative within the framework of Moroccan sovereignty over the southern provinces.The talks also provided the opportunity for both countries to note how Morocco can be used as a hub for U.S. investments in the region, within the context of a win win collaboration.
• Desperately-needed aid containing food supplies, sent by a Turkish-Qatari initiative, has arrived in Port Sudan, amid a growing humanitarian crises. Abdullah Rashid Al-Muhannadi, chargé d’affaires of the embassy of Qatar in Port Sudan, said, “2428 tons of humanitarian aid, containing food supplies and shelter materials [were shippped]. It is a Turkish-Qatari cooperation, and this is the first cargo ship to reach Port Sudan.” The war broke out in 2023 between the Sudanese army and paramilitary rapid support forces Since then, many residents have been displaced.