Breaking News Today – Wednesday 22 April 2026

African Start-up News Headlines:

• As of this past Monday, Egypt’s Fawry now holds a market capitalisation of EGP 67.72 billion ($1.3 billion) or almost double it valuation from the previous year and up 1,029% since its 2019 listing on the Egyptian Exchange. In 2025, Fawry generated EGP 8.65 billion ($166.7 million) in total operating revenue, with transaction services alone growing 41% year-on-year to EGP 6.22 billion ($120 million). The company now processes approximately six million transactions daily. The company last crossed the $1 billion valuation mark in 2020, but its market cap then fell back below that level and it stood at only $542 million as of March 2022.
• Algeria has taken a structural step toward turning its deep reserve of technical talent into an industrial asset, inaugurating the country’s first startup cluster specifically dedicated to artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. The initiative marks a strategic shift in Algeria’s innovation policy, moving from isolated startup initiatives toward structured clusters that bring together universities, research centres, and emerging companies. Algeria currently has more than 7,800 registered startups, with a national target of 20,000 by 2029.

Business News Today 

Naspers/Prosus Sells R5.2bn Delivery Hero Stake to Uber

South African tech giant Prosus has sold off a 4.5% stake in German food delivery company, Delivery Hero, to Uber for approximately €270 million (R5.2 billion), at €20 per share, equalling a 22% premium to Delivery Hero’s one-month volume-weighted average price as of 16 April 2026. Upon completion, Prosus’s stake in Delivery Hero will decrease from 26.3% to 21.8%.The deal has been prompted by European Commission regulatory pressure on Prosus, owned by South Africa’s Naspers, to reduce its overlapping food delivery holdings following its acquisition of Just Eat. This is a significant capital market event for Africa’s largest listed tech company. Uber’s growing involvement with the group signals confidence in food delivery consolidation as a global strategy play.

Terra Industries Announces Africa’s Largest Drone Factory in Ghana 

Terra Industries, Africa’s most-funded defence-technology startup, is building a 34,000-square-foot drone factory in Accra, Ghana, that the company says will become the continent’s largest when it becomes operational in June 2026 — the firm’s first manufacturing expansion outside Nigeria. The facility, named Pax-2, follows Terra’s $34 million raise across two rounds in 2026 — an $11.75 million round led by 8VC in January, followed by a $22 million follow-on led by Lux Capital, with participation from Flutterwave CEO Olugbenga Agboola’s Resilience17 Capital. The plant is expected to create 120 specialised engineering jobs and reach an annual production capacity of 50,000 aerial systems by 2028

SARB Provides Sober Scenario on Inflation Outlook

The South African Reserve Bank’s (SARB’s) Monetary Policy Review for April 2026 SARB’s baseline scenario for headline inflation to spike in 2026, sees inflation remaining under 4.0% on a shorter US /Iran war scenario. Inflation expectations are expected to continue deflating as various sectors look through the shocks, and the rand, while weakening against the dollar, maintains its resilience, trading around R17/$.In this scenario, global oil prices average higher at $78 a barrel in 2026, but start easing, reaching $68 a barrel in 2027 and falling to $65 a barrel in 2028.Interest rates continue to drop, albeit delayed to the end of 2026, with the nominal policy rate declining from 6.47% in 2026 to 5.93% in 2028. However uncertainty around the war in the Middle East are central to the bank’s “severe” case scenario pointing to a potential interest rate of as high as 8%. For context the national inflation rate was last above the 8% mark in August 2008.

Breaking Business and Market News Shorts:  

• Global oil prices edged lower in Asia this morning after US President Donald Trump said he would extend a ceasefire with Iran until peace talks between the two countries have progressed. Brent is down around -1% at $97.46 a barrel.
• Meta has started tracking the way employees work, including tracking their keystrokes and mouse clicks, to train its artificial intelligence (AI) models. The company told workers yesterday that a new tool will run on Meta’s computers and internal apps, logging their activity to be used as training data for AI technology. Employees have raised flags around privacy issues and a the emergence of potential dystopian type future where everything workers do is monitored.
• OpenAI is facing a criminal investigation in the US over whether its ChatGPT technology played a part in the murder of two people during a mass shooting at Florida State University last year.Florida’s Attorney General James Uthmeier said on Tuesday his office had been looking into the use of the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot had been used by the shooter in planning his attack.
• Copper futures climbed back above $6 per pound this morning, rebounding from the previous session’s drop, as restocking activity in China picked up ahead of the Labor Day holiday from May 1- 5. Official data also showed Chinese smelters produced a record volume of refined copper in March

Markets by Numbers 

Currency markets indicate the US dollar slightly down against major currencies today. The Greenback is trading against the Euro at 1.17528 while trading against the Pound at 1.35265. The Yen is currently trading at 159.19 to the dollar. The rand (ZAR), is currently trading around the 16.42 mark against the US dollar this morning.

Commodities:  

• Gold futures are up by around 1% today, and currently trading at around $4769.08 per ounce.  
• Copper prices are trending 0.8% higher today, with prices currently around $6.0529 per pound
• Silver futures are up by around 2.5% today, and currently trading at around $78.618 per ounce.
• Platinum futures are around 2% higher this morning, and currently trading at $2085.30, While Palladium prices are trending 2.6% higher this morning, and currently trading around $1581.50 per ounce.
• Brent crude oil prices are trending around -1% lower today and currently trading around $97.55, WTI is trading over -1.3% lower at $88.48 currently
• Cocoa futures have lost momentum this morning, sliding around -2.5%, with prices currently trading around $3308 per ton. 
• Coffee futures are trading -1.7% lower today, and currently trading at around $2.8265 per pound

Crypto Currencies: 

• Bitcoin prices are trending over 2.3% higher this morning, and trading at around $78 175 per coin currently 
• Ether prices are around 3% higher today, and currently trading around $2399.88
• $Trumpcoin are currently trading at around $2.935

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

African General News Briefs:

• South Sudan is expected to hold their long-expected elections in December 2026, despite the country sitting on the brink of civil war. Experts are warning of a potential return to full blown war as government forces under the president fight groups loosely aligned with the vice president. The violence has forced tens of thousands to flee their homes, with aid agencies regularly attacked and struggling to function. A peace deal in 2018 put an end to the last civil war between President Salva Kiir and Vice President Riek Machar but has gradually lost momentum.
• South Africa’s police chief, General Fannie Masemola, has been formally charged with failing in his duties to provide proper oversight in his role following a health contract that has become the subject of a criminal investigation. Masemola has appeared in court over his alleged part in the awarding of a controversial $21m (£15.5m) tender, to Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala, (who is in custody for various crimes) which has since been cancelled. Masemola has been charged with violating South Africa’s Public Finance Management Act, which governs how public finances are managed. The case comes during a national inquiry (The Madlanga Commission) that is investigating allegedly widespread corruption involving police officers and politicians. More than 16 top police officials have been arrested so far. Matlala has been accused of being a member of a drug cartel known as the “Big Five,” which is alleged to have infiltrated South Africa’s criminal justice system.