Breaking News Today – Wednesday 29 July 2026

African Start-up News Headlines:

• Bingo, a California-based electric vehicle startup has entered the Kenyan market with its Bingo E2 vehicle, a compact dual-battery electric vehicle aimed primarily at ride-hailing and last-mile delivery operators. The Bingo E2 is a small four-seater micro-EV (homologated as an L7e heavy quadricycle). Its main differentiator is a dual-battery system that supports fast battery swapping (claimed 2-minute swaps) alongside a fixed onboard battery. Combined range claims are high (up to around 500 km / 310 miles depending on configuration). The company is targeting Nairobi’s dense ride-hailing market first. It plans to start with imported units (initially 10–20) and move to local assembly in Nairobi, with ambitions to begin assembling vehicles by December 2026, starting with around 100 units.
• Improvements have been made towards greater gender diversity within the African tech startup ecosystem over the last two years, however more should be done if parity is to be achieved, with funding for female-founded ventures still a major issue. This is according to the third edition of the “Diversity Dividend: Exploring Gender Equality in the African Tech Ecosystem” report. A total of 641 of the more than 3,000 startups sampled for the purposes of the report, had at least one female co-founder, a share of 19.2 per cent. This was up from 17.3 per cent in 2024 and 14.6 per cent in 2023. The percentage of African startups led by a female CEO also increased, to 12.1 per cent in 2026 from 11.1 per cent in 2024 and 9.6 per cent in 2023.
• PraxiLabs, Up-Fuse, and Kennah have won USD 20 K, USD15 K and USD 10 K, respectively, at the fourth edition of Visa’s She’s Next programme in Egypt, sharing a total of USD 45 K in prize funding. The competition attracted entries from more than 2,500 women-led businesses, with nine finalists selected to pitch before a panel of investors and industry experts. Participants will also receive business development support covering digital tools, pitch preparation, and sustainable growth guidance. 

Business News Today 

Angolan Telecommunications Group Unitel Hit By Cyber Attack Before IPO

The telecommunications major group in Angola, Unitel, suffered a major cyberattack that disrupted its mobile, internet and voice services across the country, only hours before its shares were due to be listed on the Angolan stock exchange, in one of the country’s most closely watched stock market Initial Public Offerings (IPO). The disruption follows a heavily oversubscribed $329 million initial public offering that marked one of Angola’s biggest privatisation transactions. Over 21 million subscribers experienced disruptions to voice, internet and mobile data services. The state-controlled entity, said it detected the attack at around 2:20 a.m. local time on Tuesday (28 July), triggering widespread disruptions across its technology infrastructure and affecting services for millions of customers nationwide.

The Angolan government sold a 15% stake (7.5 million shares, raising 300.3 billion kwanzas (approximately $321–329 million. Trading of Unitel shares on the BODIVA exchange is scheduled to start Today (Wednesday, 29 July 2026). As of the latest available reports, the company stated it was working to restore network coverage and services. There has been no clear public confirmation yet that systems have been fully restored.

African Ratings Agency Augusto & Co in Major International Partnership

S&P Global has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Agusto & Co., one of Africa’s leading indigenous credit rating agencies. The deal, announced on 28 July 2026, marks a strategic expansion of the US financial information group’s presence in the continent’s domestic debt markets. Agusto & Co., is headquartered in Lagos Nigeria, and operates across Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda and Ghana. It is regarded as one of the stronger pan-African local rating agencies, providing credit assessments that are particularly relevant for domestic bond markets, banks, corporates and other issuers who need ratings tailored to local conditions.

Demand for such local credit analysis has been rising as African governments and companies increasingly turn to domestic debt markets to fund infrastructure and operations, while investors seek greater transparency on credit risk within those markets. By combining S&P Global’s international methodology, resources and global distribution with Agusto’s established local presence and expertise, the partnership aims to expand market insights, improve credit transparency and support more participants across the region.

Vodacom and Stanlib Launch New Lesotho Investment Platform

A new investment platform – Tsetela, has been launched by Vodacom Lesotho. The mobile investment platform enables M-Pesa customers to access formal investment opportunities. Vodacom Lesotho said Tsetela was developed in partnership with asset manager Stanlib Lesotho, enabling M-Pesa customers to grow their savings directly from their mobile wallets. The company added that the solution broadens access to regulated investment opportunities while reinforcing M-Pesa’s role in Lesotho’s financial ecosystem. Vodacom Lesotho said by making investment access available through a platform already trusted across urban, peri-urban and rural communities, Tsetela helps remove barriers that have long kept many Basotho outside formal financial markets.

Breaking Business and Market News Shorts:  

• Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index fell 0.8% to below 62,000 today, extending the losses from the previous session, as technology stocks remained under risk-off selling pressure amid persistent concerns over the sustainability of the artificial intelligence trade. Japanese equities also followed Wall Street lower after chipmakers led overnight declines in the US market.
• Networking and security company Cisco has appointed Ossama Eldeeb as managing director for Africa, effective immediately. Cisco said that Eldeeb will lead Cisco’s commercial operations and investment strategy across Africa, working in close collaboration with the company’s local partner ecosystem to scale Cisco’s presence on the continent.
• Ghana’s cocoa yields are expected to fall in the 2026/27 season as inclement weather, illegal mining and the expansion of rubber plantations reduce pod counts across growing regions, farmers said. While some regions have been more impacted by the weather than others, overall estimates now are indicating a crop shortage for the season. Pod counters in Ivory Coast also expect output to fall by more than 10% in the 2026/27 season. Cocoa Prices have lifted almost 2% today.
• The U.S. is backing the Ampasindava rare earths project in Madagascar as part of its strategy to reduce the dominance of China in critical minerals supply chains, the State Department has said, highlighting the USA’s push to develop alternative sources of minerals now largely controlled by China.
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 1.5%, or 385 points, to 25,692 today, reaching its highest level in eight weeks as technology shares extended their gains. Investor sentiment improved as concerns over AI-related valuations eased,

Markets by Numbers 

Currency markets indicate the US dollar marginally weaker today. The Greenback is trading against the Euro at 1.13951 while trading against the Pound at 1.32947 The Yen is currently trading at 163.70 to the dollar. The rand (ZAR), has weakened and is currently trading around the 16.72 mark against the US dollar this morning.

Commodities:  

• Gold futures are trading fairly level this morning, and currently trading at around $4028.64 per ounce.  
• Copper prices are around -0.5% lower this morning, with prices currently around $6.2916 per pound
• Silver futures are up by 0.9% today, and currently trading at around $57.640 per ounce.
• Platinum futures are around -0.8% lower this morning, currently trading at $1609.50, while Palladium is around -0.7% lower today, and currently trading around $1265.00 per ounce.
• Lithium prices are down by around -0.68% today and trading at CNY145 500
• Brent crude oil prices are trending over -4% lower today, and currently trading around $87.44 with WTI trading at $8.502 currently
• Cocoa futures are trading around 1.98% higher today, and currently trading at $5201 per ton. 
• Coffee futures have surged by over 4.5% today, and currently trading at around $3.3940 per pound

Crypto Currencies: 

• Bitcoin prices are flat today, currently trading at around $63 905 per coin.
• Ether prices are trending -0.58% lower this morning, and currently trading around $1908.76

(All prices as quoted at approximately 05H20 Central African Time) 

African General News Briefs:

• Morocco has named its major Tiznit-Dakhla Expressway after U.S. President Donald Trump, in recognising his support for Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara. The 1,055-kilometre highway is pivotal for Morocco’s ambition to become a trade gateway linking Europe and West Africa via the Atlantic corridor. The President Donald J. Trump Highway, costing around $1 billion, substantially improves transport infrastructure across southern Morocco and the disputed Western Sahara region. While the naming has caused a stir on social media, Morocco has seen this as a pragmatic regional development concept.
• Senegalese president Bassirou Diamaye Faye has arrived for an official visit and discussions with the head of Mali’s military junta, Assimi Goita. The two are expected to talk about the security situation, military co operation, as well as freight transport. Mali imports a significant part of its goods through the port of Dakar, but for several months transport has been hampered due to jihadist attacks.