Breaking News Today - Thursday 17 September 2026

African Start-up News Headlines:

South African startup campus 22 On Sloane has launched KUMii, an AI-powered platform that matches African startups and MSMEs with funders, tenders, mentors, learning resources and business tools. More than 4,000 businesses have already registered. At the same time the organisation announced that its investment vehicle Sloane Capital, which holds a Category II licence and National Credit Regulator licence, is raising R1 billion ($63 million) to finance startups and MSMEs beyond investment-readiness stage. The dual move was unveiled on the opening day of GEC+Africa 2026 in Cape Town and is intended to reduce the friction of Africa’s fragmented funding, market-access and support landscape. Executive head Kizito Okechukwu framed the effort as addressing structural disconnection across borders, regulations and programmes.
Y Combinator-backed Bujeti, a Lagos-based finance control platform used by more than 1,000 teams in Nigeria and Kenya, has released BRAIN (Real-time Agent Intelligence Network). The system deploys four specialised AI “Teammates” that sit on the company’s existing ledger of accounts, budgets, vendors, contracts and transactions. Fetch extracts invoices and receipts from storage and accounting tools; Chaser follows up unpaid invoices via email, SMS and WhatsApp and can propose payment plans

Headline News Today

African Trade Data Updates

Nigeria's NBS Q2 foreign-trade figures released yesterday, indicate that Nigeria’s trade with the rest of Africa sits at about N7.76 trillion, with exports of N6.65 trillion versus imports N1.10 trillion. CBN data showed external reserves at an 18-year high of about $54.6 billion.

Stats SA retail trade for July saw sales up 3.4% year on year, after a 1.1% growth in June, with a 2.5% month on month growth. That beat forecasts and pointed to firmer household spending at the start of Q3, after Q2 GDP contracted 0.2%. Rising oil prices remain the offsetting risk.

Critical Mineral Supply Chain to get Capital Boost

Mining chemicals importer Kemcore has secured environmental clearance for a $140 million manufacturing plant in Botswana, clearing a key hurdle as the company moves toward construction of a manufacturing facility. The factory will supply critical reagents to copper and cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia, supporting the fast-growing battery minerals sector.

Kemcore is also reported to be in advanced talks with regional and local funders, who are keen on participating in the rapidly growing critical minerals market without direct investment into mining operations. The company is targeting financial close of the funding raise by December this year.

Global LNG Gas Shortage Opens Opportunity for Africa

The Iran and US war has resulted in a shift of the global LNG supply. Data on LNG shipments indicate a supply reduction of around 36 million tons of LNG from the global market.
Asian spot prices have responded and are now close to three-times the LNG price prior to the conflict, and was trading at around 198 pence per British thermal units.therm yesterday. These prices were last seen almost four-years back in December 2022.

Nigeria, Algeria and other African LNG producers could benefit, but limited spare capacity will restrict their ability to provide immediate response to the missing supply, which is almost equal to Africa’s total LNG exports of 39.8 million tonnes in 2025.
While there are numerous Gas exploration projects in Africa, including in Namibia and Mozambique, these are still in development stage, but improving supply could see Africa playing a larger role in the LNG market.

Breaking Business and Market News Shorts:

The US Fed raises rates for first time since 2023, with a unanimous decision of a 25 base point hike to a target range of 3.75–4%. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh cited elevated inflation (linked partly to geopolitical oil pressures). Markets priced in possible further tightening; stocks fell, dollar strengthened.
Copper futures climbed to around $6.45 per pound today, hitting a third consecutive session of gains as the broader metals complex rebounded. This followed a widely anticipated interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve. However, investors have remained cautious after the Fed signalled that additional rate increases could be necessary this year.
Gold lifted toward $4,300 an ounce this morning, recovering losses from the previous session as the recent rally in oil prices lost steam, easing inflationary pressures. Those moves followed reports that Saudi Arabia is aiming to restore around half of its East-West pipeline capacity within days and return it to full operation within six weeks.
Brent crude Futures eased today and is trading below $105.00 per barrel, following a sharp drop in prices in the previous trading session. This followed reports that Saudi Arabia plans to restore roughly half the capacity of its East-West pipeline within days and bring it back to full operation within six weeks.

Markets by Numbers

Currencies:

Currency markets indicate the US dollar marginally weaker today. The Greenback is trading against the Euro at 1.14623 while trading against the Pound at 1.33826. The Yen is currently trading at 155.74 to the US dollar. The rand (ZAR), is currently trading at the 16.33 against the US dollar this morning.

Commodities:

Gold futures have gained around 0.88% this morning, and currently trading at around $4301.25 per ounce.
Copper prices are up by 0.3% today, with prices currently around $6.4507 per pound
Silver futures are up around 0.77% today, and currently trading at around $63.730 per ounce.
Platinum futures are up around 0.1% this morning, and currently trading at $1786.20, While Palladium is around -0.6% lower today, and currently trading around $1305.50 per ounce.
Lithium is trading 0.76% Higher today and currently at CNY/T 133 200
Brent crude oil prices are trending -0.86% lower today, and currently trading around $104.92, with WTI trading at $101.43 currently
Cocoa futures are up around 0.95% today, and currently trading at $5979 per ton.
Coffee futures are down over -0.74% today, and currently trading at around $2.8155 per pound

Crypto Currencies:

Bitcoin prices are up around 0.13% today, and trading at around $76 255 per coin currently
Ether prices are 0.7% higher this morning, and currently trading around $2434.68

(All prices quoted at approximately 07H55 Central African Time)

African General News Briefs:

A collapse at the informal al-Zaraa gold mine near al-Nuhud in Sudan’s West Kordofan has killed at least 82 artisanal miners, according to an RSF-linked local official cited by AFP, with about 50 injured and an unknown number still trapped. Reuters put the confirmed death toll lower, at least 60, while the Kordofan Observatory said more than 70 were dead or missing. Shafts packed close together failed in a cascade through loose, sandy ground. Survivors spent the night digging with the same basic tools used to extract ore; no specialised rescue teams or heavy equipment reached the remote site. Gold from unregulated mines is a major wartime revenue source. Local sources blamed the scale of the disaster on the absence of safety standards and rescue capacity.
The US has imposed visa restrictions on specific South Africans. Secretary of State Marco Rubio targeted individuals linked to “race-based discrimination,” uncompensated land seizures, or incitement against minorities. South Africa rejected the claims as mischaracterisation and urged diplomatic engagement. Escalation of Trump-administration tensions continues with relations between Pretoria and Washington at all-time lows.