Business & Tech News
Pavel Durov Released: Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was released from custody after being held for questioning for four days.Durov was detained on Saturday at Le Bourget airport outside Paris as part of a judicial inquiry opened last month involving 12 alleged criminal violations of the social media platform he owns and that he refused to cooperate with police in providing platform user information. Pavel is a staunch supporter of freedom of speech and has refused to censor or remove content to align with various government’s wishes as recently admitted by Meta that it had removed or censored valid content during the pandemic and prior to the US elections in 2020 because of pressure from the government.
Nigeria Oil Investment Boost: Total Energies and Amni have announced that they are planning to invest over $1bn in Ima Gas in Nigeria. The international oil company has ramped up its gas production investment in Nigeria as it focuses on the gas sector and is in the preparation stage to commence production at the Ima oil field co-owned by Amni International.
Platinum Project Halted: Mining investments in South Africa (SA) have been on a downward spiral and hopes of gaining momentum have been dealt another blow. Impala Platinum, one of SA’s largest producers of platinum, announced yesterday (28 August) that it had decided to halt further spending on a new mine it was developing in South Africa. This came after the mining house’s profit dived by 87% in the financial year ending 30 June. The mining company said that the main cause of their profit plunge was due to ongoing low metal prices. The planned new Twin Rivers project, which was a joint venture with African Rainbow Minerals, was to be developed at an estimated cost of $320 million, would be placed in a care and maintenance hold.
Nividia Shares Crash Ai Market Expectations: Nvidia, the world’s largest Ai chip producer lost around 7% in share value yesterday after releasing their latest quarterly earnings report. The market had been expecting a far more bullish earnings ratio and there was much expectation that this would drive further gains across the Tech sector. Nasdaq futures fell over 1% suggesting traders expect tech stocks to lose ground today (Thursday). Several other AI-related companies also saw losses as a knock-on effect and dropped around $100 billion in combined share value.
Namibian ETF Surging on Oil Find: Namibian Assets (FTN098), an index fund tracking local government bonds, is set for its largest annual jump ever. The momentum gained has been largely due to the discovery of large reserves of crude oil, discovered by Galp Oil, a Portuguese multi-national energy company. The find has peaked interest in Namibian assets and the fund has jumped over 19% in U.S. dollar terms since the announcement of the prospect of around 10 million barrels of oil a day expected from the Mopane oil field
Pension Fund Boost for SA Economy: Absa Corporate and Investment Banking’s senior economist, Miyelani Maluleke, speaking at a media roundtable event on Wednesday, said the bank is forecasting R44 billion in early withdrawals linked to the new two-pot pension scheme system that the government has introduced from 1 September to the end of 2024, and an additional R34 billion by August 2025. He said he expects the national treasury to benefit by amounts of between 8 billion and 10 billion ZAR ($451 – $564 million) – in taxes from the estimated 44 billion ZAR ($2.48 Billion) in withdrawals in the first four months of the new system. It remains questionable as to if the long term impact of allowing people to withdraw their pension funds early while enjoying government tax gains and increased retail spend in the short term, is in fact a sensible policy.
Market News
Markets: The Dollar lost some ground yesterday with markets focused on the revised US Q2 GDP stats due out today and the release of inflation indicators due tomorrow, and doubt over the rate cuts expected in September. The Dollar is currently trading flat at 1.1126 against the Euro, at 1.3219 against the Pound, and at 144.58 against the Yen. Emerging Market currencies softened slightly yesterday as traders turned cautious ahead of the US data. The Rand is currently a little stronger this morning at 17.75.
Commodities: Gold prices have strengthened this morning after some profit taking yesterday and is currently trading at $2,517, after hitting $2520 at one point. Platinum and Palladium are both trading flat this morning with Platinum currently at $945 and palladium at $960. Brent crude prices yesterday closed higher at $81.43 but has traded downwards this morning and is currently at $77.65 and with WTI currently trading at $74.63
Other News Today
Soweto Youth – Protest Foreign Hiring Policy: A large group of young, unemployed people from Soweto took to the streets yesterday in a protest march to the office of Johannesburg’s Mayor, Dada Morero. This protest came after the newly appointed Mayor proposed employing foreign nationals as within the Metro Police Department as police officers. While Morero has subsequently apologised for issuing the proposal, it has created much anger amongst the youth who currently have one of the highest unemployment rates in the world, with rising poverty levels and little work prospects it remains a powder keg waiting to erupt.
