Breaking News Today – Wednesday 8 July 2026

African Start-up News Headlines:

• South African fintech and small enterprise lender Bridgement, has raised ZAR 330 Million ($20.3 Million) in funding from Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) and Standard Bank to expand their AI-powered lending operation, supporting the expansion of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Bridgement, founded in 2016, has over the last decade, disbursed more than ZAR 2 Billion ( $123 Million) in business loans to South African SMEs. The new funding will help grow its loan book and support plans to license its AI-driven lending technology to banks and corporates,
• Technology entrepreneurs from South Africa and across the continent have been invited to apply for the 2026 KPMG Private Enterprise Global Tech Innovator competition, with the winner earning a place at the global finals in Lisbon, Portugal. The competition, now in its sixth year, is open to eligible startups and scale-ups from all 13 KPMG One Africa member countries across Southern, East and West Africa. Applications close on 2 August 2026. According to KPMG, applications will be assessed on innovation, entrepreneurial capability, growth potential, customer focus and risk awareness by a panel of industry experts.

Business News Today 

Oil on the Boil After Middle East Military Attacks

Brent Crude futures jumped by over 2.6% toward $76 per barrel this morning and are up more than 6% so far this week. The price spike occurred after the US military carried out air strikes in Iran and revoked the peace accord condition that had allowed the Iran to sell crude on global markets. The military action followed a series of recent attacks on cargo ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, including a Qatari LNG carrier and a Saudi oil tanker. The renewed conflict has put the interim US-Iran peace agreement at risk and raised the prospect of further disruptions to global energy supplies with shipowners and regional energy producers now at risk when utilising the key trade waterway. The escalation marks a sharp reversal from forecasts of an oil supply glut, after OPEC+ countries increased production quotas and Middle Eastern producers moved to ramp up output.

New African Oil Refinery Base Confirmed by Dangote

A 700,000 barrel-per-day (BPD)refining beast in East Africa, proposed by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote recently, will be constructed in Kenya, according to a senior company official’s statement made yesterday, putting an end to speculation over the location of the new mega-oil-project. The vice president of oil and gas at Dangote Industries Limited, Edwin Devakumar, ge, confirmed in a statement to AFP the new refinery will be based in Lamu, an island off the coast of Kenya. Alika Dangote, The Nigerian industrialist had previously indicated he was leaning toward the Kenyan city of Mombasa, before making the Lamu announcement. Dangote oil, who already produces around 650,000 -700 000 bpd at it’s refinery in Nigeria, and is the largest on the African continent, has ambitions to become the largest oil refinery globally by 2028 with plans to more than double its capacity to 1.4 million bpd.

Shell to Sell Fuel Retail Business to Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi National Oil’s retail unit official has confirmed it has agreed to buy local South African Shell oil fuel retail station network, at a price tag of $1 billion (R16.25 billion) enterprise value. The deal will provide Abu Dhabi’s state company access to Africa’s biggest economy for the first time. Adnoc Distribution will gain control of the existing 580 retail stations, bringing an end to Shell’s 124-year history of fuel distribution in South Africa. The deal is expected to close in 2027, after which, the company plans to seek a local empowerment partner and will sell off 28% of the business and use shares as employee stock options.

Breaking Business and Market News Shorts:  

• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index surged around 1.9%, or 466 points today, to 23,963 points, with technology stocks leading broad-based gains despite renewed geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. Chinese autonomous driving firm Momenta Global was set to list above its offer price after raising HK$5.89 billion in its initial public offering, indicating strong investor demand for technology listings.
• Businesses and government in South Africa have been threatened with another national shutdown, according to the leader of the March and March anti-illegal-immigration movement, that coordinated the last anti- immigration march last week. Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, said the South African government has three months to meet demands or face a ‘real’ national shutdown.
• Victims of a 2023 data hack at genetics testing company 23andMe are set to receive a multi-million payout from the firm. A California court judge ruled on Tuesday that Chrome Holding, which last year took control of 23andMe after its bankruptcy, should pay out $46.75m (£35m) in compensation.
• South African mobile operator Rain and Chinese telecoms equipment vendor Huawei are accelerating the deployment of a sub-1 GHz Massive MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output) 5G network across South Africa. The plan is to deploy “a multi-thousand-site” scale commercial network across the country.

Markets by Numbers 

Currency markets indicate the US dollar slightly softer today. The Greenback is trading against the Euro at 1.14177 while trading against the Pound at 1.33551 The Yen is currently trading at 162.27 to the dollar. The rand (ZAR), is currently trading around the 16.26 mark against the US dollar this morning.

Commodities:  

• Gold futures are around 0.49% higher this morning, and currently trading at around $4125.92 per ounce.  
• Copper prices are around -0.36% lower this morning, with prices currently around $61.484 per pound
• Silver futures are around 1.2% higher today, and currently trading at around $60.690 per ounce.
• Platinum futures are around -0.96% lower this morning, currently trading at $1647.00, while Palladium is around -0.82% lower today, and currently trading around $1271.00 per ounce.
• Brent crude oil prices are trending around 3% higher today, and currently trading around $76.48, with WTI trading at $72.57 currently
• Cocoa futures are up by around 1.14% today, and currently trading at $5759 per ton. 
• Coffee futures are sliding this morning, down by over -9% today, and currently trading at around $3.1760 per pound

Crypto Currencies: 

• Bitcoin prices are -1.2% softer today, currently trading at around $62 561 per coin.
• Ether prices are trending -1% lower this morning, and currently trading around $1750.96

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

African General News Briefs:

• Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa has been criticised by South African politician, Mmusi Maimane, after he signed into law, constitutional changes extending his time in office to 2030. Maimane commented on X that “I condemn unequivocally the decision taken by Emerson. As South Africa we cannot sit back and watch the eroding of democracy and constitutionalism in Zim.”The legislation, approved by Parliament last month, also introduces a provision allowing future presidents to be elected by lawmakers instead of a direct public vote. The new legislation introduces a significant constitutional change by providing for future presidents to be elected by Parliament rather than through a direct popular vote.
• Ghana has rejected a request for an official state visit from South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, as tensions between the two nations rise over a wave of xenophobic violence that has targeted Ghanaian nationals living in South Africa. Diplomatic sources in Accra and Pretoria told the Daily Graphic that the decision comes amid a sharp escalation in anti-foreigner attacks across parts of South Africa. The violence has already forced around 1,000 Ghanaians to return home, with another 900 said to be in the process of registering for repatriation.