Breaking News Today – Wednesday 22 July 2026

African Start-up News Headlines:

• Cape Town-based small business focused fintech startup Zazu, has announced seed funding from Launch Africa Ventures. Announcing the deal on LinkedIn, co-founder Germain Bahri  said the new investment was the latest in a string of positive developments for the company. He indicated that consistent product improvement and fast execution was attracting investor attention. Bahri noted that the funding will allow Zazu to push further toward its goal of transforming financial services for African entrepreneurs, adding that the team is still shipping what it considers foundational features even as it moves into its next growth phase.
• Mylerz an Egyptian, end-to-end logistics company built to serve the evolving needs of eCommerce businesses, has raised more than $2 million (USD) in a combination of debt and equity to scale its fulfilment and last-mile delivery operations across Egypt. Lorax Capital Partners led the round, with participation from Egyptian fintech giant Fawry and a group of existing investors.
• Kenyan travel-fintech startup Afrinity has joined FasterCapital’s EquityPilot programme to help it refine execution priorities, strengthen go-to-market messaging, and align initial product milestones for early deployment and user acquisition. has now been selected for the EquityPilot programme run by Faster Capital, a global venture builder and online incubator dedicated to co-funding and co-founding innovative startups, which will focus in the first 30–60 days on refining execution priorities, strengthening go-to-market messaging, and aligning initial product milestones for early deployment and user acquisition.
  
  

Business News Today 

Support for Platinum Sees Price Reversal

Platinum futures have climbed to around $1,670 an ounce this morning, reaching a four-week high as renewed buying across precious metals and persistent global supply constraints supported prices. After several weeks of weakening prices and heavy losses across the precious metals complex, platinum future prices are begining to show signs of support from dip-buying as traders weighing higher energy prices against soft US economic data. Meanwhile, the World Platinum Investment Council has indicted that it anticipates a fourth consecutive market supply deficit in 2026, as constrained mine supply, elevated energy costs, and higher winter electricity tariffs continue to pressure producers’ margins. South Africa’s Sibanye-Stillwater plans to advance seven PGM mining projects, although production is not expected to begin until next year. China’s industrial policies supporting AI, electric vehicles, and clean energy, together with the launch of the first platinum investment bar series, are also expected to support longer term platinum consumption.

PIC in a Pickle Over CEO Suspension

According to several reports and sources, a total of six directors have resigned from the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) board amid a deepening governance crisis. The PIC manages approximately R3.6 trillion, the bulk of it on behalf of the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF). It has a history of governance turbulence, as indicated by the Mpati Commission of Inquiry, with previous suspensions of investment executives, and persistent underperformance. The PIC board had earlier voted 9–2 to place CEO Patrick Dlamini on precautionary suspension pending investigation into a whistleblower complaint. Two directors, Thabi Nkosi and Nosiphiwo Balfour, resigned first, followed by four more board-member resignations  – Lerato Makwetla, Lindy Bodewig, Mpumelo Maseko, and Dorothy Kobe. Sources cited by the Mail & Guardian state that Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana sought to persuade the board to reverse the suspension decision and warned that he would dissolve the board if it did not. The four later resignations are purportedly linked to that pressure.

Rail Lifting Zimbabwean Lithium Export Potential

The National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ), said on yesterday its collaboration with private operators now provides capacity to haul lithium concentrate to Maputo port in Mozambique by rail, expanding logistics options for the battery mineral. In a media statement the National Rail operator, said it had partnered with Beitbridge Bulawayo Railway (BBR), a unit of South Africa’s Grindrod, and Zimbabwean logistics firm Silvergill to rail the first 1,000 metric tons of lithium concentrate from Tsingshan Holding Group’s Gwanda Lithium Mine to Maputo. The NRZ has seen a steady decline over decades due to poor funding and maintenance by the government which has now stepped up collaborations with private logistics firms to boost freight volumes which collapsed from a peak of 12 million tons, three decades ago, to a mere 2 million tons of rail volume in 2025. Export of lithium sulphate from Zimbabwe is projected to reach 344,000 tons by 2030.

Breaking Business and Market News Shorts:  

• Brent oil futures lifted to above $92 per barrel today, hitting a seven-week high as supply risks intensified across several major export routes even beyond the Middle East. President Donald Trump dismissed the likelihood of imminent talks with Iran while warning of additional strikes against Iran.
• The Japanese yen weakened to above 163 per dollar earlier today, sinking to its lowest level since October 1986 and keeping markets on high alert for possible government intervention to support the currency. The Japanese yen weakened beyond 163 per dollar on Wednesday, sinking to its lowest level since October 1986 and keeping markets on high alert for possible government intervention to support the currency. 
• The South African rand strengthened towards R16.45 to the dollar (USD), as investors looked ahead to June inflation data to be released today, and the Reserve Bank’s policy decision tomorrow, while monitoring developments in the Middle East. Annual inflation is expected to accelerate to 4.7% in June from 4.5% in May, with Interest rates likely to be hiked by 25 basis points to 7.25%
• Nigeria’s central bank kept its monetary policy rate unchanged at 26.50% yesterday, indicating a cautious approach was needed with renewed military conflict between the U.S. and Iran in recent weeks. This while headline inflation was marginally lower at 15.91% year-on-year in June.
• South Korea’s KOSPI climbed nearly 6% to around 7,130 today, extending gains from the previous session as a rebound in global semiconductor stocks boosted investor sentiment. The rally followed gains in US chipmakers, with a key US semiconductor index jumping 5.2%.

Markets by Numbers 

Currency markets indicate the US dollar trading fairly level today. The Greenback is trading against the Euro at 1.14071 while trading against the Pound at 1.33866 The Yen is currently trading at 163.10 to the dollar. The rand (ZAR), is currently trading around the 16.44 mark against the US dollar this morning.

Commodities:  

• Gold futures are up around 1.2% this morning, and currently trading at around $4127.57 per ounce.  
• Copper prices are around -0.47% lower this morning, with prices currently around $6.4831 per pound
• Silver futures are around 1.6% higher today, and currently trading at around $59.731 per ounce.
• Platinum futures are around 2% higher this morning, currently trading at $1671.20, while Palladium is around 02.7% higher today, and currently trading around $1321.50 per ounce.
• Lithium prices are down around -4.95% today and trading at CNY144 000
• Brent crude oil prices are trending around 0.8% higher today, and currently trading around $91.79, with WTI trading at $84.93 currently
• Cocoa futures are up by around 1.5% today, and currently trading at $5607 per ton. 
• Coffee futures are down by over -0.7% today, and currently trading at around $3.2210 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 04H45 Central African Time) 

African General News Briefs:

• The UN food security report, released yesterday, indicates that global hunger has eased modestly in recent years, but has also projected that more than 500 million people could still face chronic hunger by 2030 with Africa expected to become the epicentre of poverty globally. Conflict remains one of the biggest obstacles to reducing hunger, with wars and geopolitical tensions disrupting shipping, energy supplies and agricultural inputs, increasing costs across food systems already strained by inflation.