Breaking News Today – Wednesday 29 October 2025

Business News Today

AI Expo Africa Kicking Off Today

Africa’s largest AI event kicks of today with a focus on promoting the responsible development of AI across the continent. From real-world case studies to detailed tech demos, the event aims to engage delegates about the current and near term state-of-the-art, best practice, available technology and cloud platforms, deployment challenges, ethical considerations allied to the vibrant innovation and start up ecosystem driving the industry growth in Africa today. Keynote speakers includes Linda Saunders, the Country Manager of Salesforce, South Africa, and Dharhas Pothina, CTO of OpenTeams USA. The expo is expecting more than 300 delegates at the Sandton Convention centre for the three day event.

Malaysia – Critical Mineral Ban to Stay

Malaysia will maintain a ban on the export of raw rare earths to protect its domestic resources, despite signing a critical minerals deal with the United States this week, the trade minister said on Wednesday. Speaking in parliament, Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz dismissed allegations that Malaysia will allow the export of critical minerals and rare earths to the United States in pursuit of immediate profits or strategic goals. “Our policy is not to prevent trade forever,” he said. “Our policy is to prevent the export of cheap unprocessed raw materials so that value is added to Malaysia.” Malaysia has some 16.1 million metric tons of rare earth deposits, according to government estimates, but lacks the technology to mine and process them. 

China’s New Five-Year Development Plan Excludes Electric Vehicles

Beijing has excluded electric vehicles from its list of strategic industries in the 2026–2030 five-year development plan, marking their first omission in over a decade as the sector struggles with oversupply. New energy vehicles (NEVs), including EVs, plug-in hybrids, and fuel cell cars, had been classified as strategic emerging industries in the previous three plans to enhance industrial competitiveness. However, the 15th five-year plan, unveiled by Xinhua News Agency, shifts focus toward “quantum technology, bio-manufacturing, hydrogen energy, and nuclear fusion” as new growth drivers. Automobiles were instead mentioned alongside housing, with authorities calling for the easing of purchase restrictions to spur consumption. The full plan is expected to be released at China’s parliamentary meeting in March next year.

Japan Stocks Boosted by AI Sentiment

The Nikkei 225 Index jumped 2% to above 51,000 on Wednesday, marking fresh record highs and tracking a tech-driven rally on Wall Street as optimism surrounding AI developments continued to fuel sentiment. AI bellwether Nvidia hit new all-time highs after CEO Jensen Huang unveiled a slate of partnerships and brushed off concerns about an AI bubble. Japanese firms with strong exposure to AI or the global chip supply chain advanced sharply, led by Advantest (14.7%), SoftBank Group (2.1%), Lasertec (5.9%), Fujikura (4.3%) and Disco Corp (2.5%).

Investors also positioned for an expected rate cut from the US Federal Reserve later Wednesday, while the Bank of Japan is set to keep policy unchanged on Thursday. On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump met with new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, pledging deeper US-Japan ties and signing agreements on trade and critical minerals that formalized parts of a broader deal crafted under Takaichi’s predecessor. Japan’s consumer confidence index also rose to 35.8 in October 2025 from 35.3 in September, surpassing market forecasts of 35.6. It marked the highest level since December 2024, as all components improved:

Breaking News Shorts: 

• Waabi announced the launch of its new autonomous truck made in partnership with Volvo, the Volvo VNL Autonomous truck. The unveiling comes eight months since the Uber- and Nvidia-backed startup announced it was partnering with Volvo Autonomous solutions to build a custom truck based on Volvo’s autonomy platform using Waabi’s software stack.
• Asian shares got a lift from Wall Street on Wednesday thanks to a fresh wave of optimism over artificial intelligence, as investors braced for a busy day headlined by the Federal Reserve’s decision and earnings from technology heavyweights.
• US stocks extended gains on Tuesday with the S&P 500 up 0.3%, the Dow rising 180 points and the Nasdaq advancing 0.8% as all three renewed record highs ahead of a widely expected 25bp Fed cut on Wednesday. The rally was concentrated in AI and mega cap tech after two corporate developments reanchored growth expectations, Microsoft jumped 2.3% on a landmark deal with OpenAI 
• Gold futures rose to around $3,970 per ounce this morning, pausing its recent decline as attention turned to the Federal Reserve’s expected rate cut later in the day. Traders are also watching for signals from Fed Chair Jerome Powell on the future path of monetary policy, with markets already pricing in another rate reduction in December.

Markets by Numbers 

Currency markets indicate the US dollar strengthening today, with the Euro trading against the US dollar at 1.16296 while the Pound is trading at 1.32381 to the US dollar. The Yen is currently trading at 152.43 to the dollar. The rand (ZAR) hit a one year low against the US dollar is currently at R17.15 to the US dollar.

Commodities:  

• Gold futures prices are currently trading around $3960.00 per ounce.  
• Copper prices have seen some gain this morning, with prices currently around $5.1519
• Silver futures prices are trending higher today, and currently trading around $47.523
• Platinum futures are flat this morning, and currently trading at $1571.30, While Palladium prices are trending lower today, and are currently trading around $1387.00 per ounce.
• Brent crude oil prices are softer today, and currently at $64.37 with WTI trading higher at $60.06
• Cocoa futures have dropped by over -2.9% this morning, and currently trading around $6002.00 per ton. 
• Coffee futures have fallen by -0.5% today, and are currently trading at around $3.8790 per pound

Crypto Currencies: 

• Bitcoin prices have seen prices trending marginally higher today, and currently trading at around $1130908 per coin 
• Ether prices have gained over 1% today, and are currently trading around $4028.00
• $Trumpcoin is trending upwards today, and currently trading around $7.63

(All prices quoted at approximately 08H00 Central African Time) 

Africa News Briefs:

• Madagascar’s military-led government, which seized power recently, has appointed a cabinet of mostly civilian ministers, including some prominent critics of ousted president Andry Rajoelina yesterday.The appointments mark a key moment in Madagascar’s political turmoil as the military consolidates power while it tries to address economic hardship and political divisions.
• Protests in Madagascar continued for a second day yesterday, following the announcement that president Paul Biya was re-elected for an eighth term. Armed forces have been deployed to several key points. Current president Paul Biya was declared the winner of the elections by the Constitutional Council on Monday, opening the way to his eighth term as president at 92 years old. Biya has ruled the country without interruption since 1982.
• Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan is expected to win the presidential election after candidates from the two leading opposition parties were barred from standing as opponents. In addition to the presidential election, voters will choose members of the country’s 400-seat parliament and a president and lawmakers in the semi-autonomous Zanzibar archipelago.