Business & Tech News
Global Richest Woman is Walmart Heiress: Alice Walton, heiress to the Walton group empire, became the world’s richest woman. Her Net worth has been calculated as $95,7 billion, an amount that has been boosted by a 46% rise in Walmart’s share price, that has seen her net worth grow by $26 billion in the past year. Alice Walton, who has ironically never been an active participant in the Walmart business and has superseded François Bettencourt Meyers, the L’Oréal Heiress, whose net worth is now calculated as $88 billion.
Nigerian Fuel Supply in Jeopardy: While Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, is in in Beijing with other African Leaders, Nigerians are facing one of the worst fuel shortage crisis’s ever experienced in the oil rich country, waiting for hours to buy inflated priced fuel. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)said in a statement that “NNPC Ltd. has acknowledged recent reports in national newspapers regarding the company’s significant debt to petrol suppliers.” “This financial strain has placed considerable pressure on the Company and poses a threat to the sustainability of fuel supply.” This is despite the NNPC stating that they produced a $3.3 Trillion net profit in 2023.
Freedom of Speech Win for X: Social media platform X, won an appeal on Wednesday to block a California law requiring social media companies to publish their policies for combating disinformation, harassment, hate speech and extremism. A lower court judge’s decision declining to pause enforcement of the new California law was over ruled by A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco X had sued last year to stop the law from taking effect, claiming it violated speech protections under the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment. The State law would require large social media companies to issue public reports describing their content moderation practices and to provide data on the number of objectionable posts and how they were addressed.
China Pledges to Create 1 Million Jobs in Africa: At the China-Africa summit in Beijing, where over 50 African Leaders have gathered, President Xi Jinping pledged on Thursday to step up China’s support for African developments via the funding of close to $51 billion, backing for more infrastructure initiatives and a promise to create at least 1 million jobs. China has also indicated it would be focused on supporting the adoption of advanced and green technologies in which Chinese firms have large investments. Xi told delegates that China would carry out 30 infrastructure projects across the resource-rich continent, and offer $50.70 billion in financial assistance.
Market News
Markets: The US market was subdued yesterday with indices closing pretty flat after Tuesday’s losses. This morning, Japan’s Nikkei was down a further 1.4%, and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong dropped by 1.1%.
Currencies are trading in narrow ranges again this morning, The Dollar is currently trading a little softer at 1.107 against the Euro, but is up against the Pound at 1.315, and softer against the Yen at 143.46 against the Yen. Emerging Market currencies are trading firmer this morning, with the rand currently trading stronger at R17.87
Commodities: Gold is trading flat this morning at $2,495, while Platinum and Palladium are both trading softer at $910 and $934, respectively. Concerns about the slow global economy growth is suppressing oil prices. Brent crude is currently at $72.94 while WTI continues to trading below the $70 mark at $69.43 currently
Other News Today
Egyptian and Turkish Heads Meet: The first official visit to Turkey by an Egyptian president in 12 years commenced yesterday with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, set to have several talks and are expected to sign numerous agreements between the countries. The presidential visit comes as relations between the two regional powers improved. Erdogan made his first visit to Egypt in more than a decade in February of 2024, after the two countries agreed to mend ties and reappointed ambassadors. Relations between Egypt and Turkey collapsed in 2013 after el-Sisi, who was then army chief, led the removal of the democratically elected Islamist President Mohamed Morsi amid mass protests against his divisive first year in power.
Passenger Rail Exec in Jail: The former head of engineering at the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa, or PRASA, was sentenced to a 15-year prison sentence on Tuesday for faking his engineering qualifications among other charges of fraud. Daniel Mtimkulu, 49, resigned as the head of engineering at the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa, or PRASA, shortly before he was arrested in 2015. He was convicted of three counts of fraud and forgery in 2022 over fake university qualifications and a forged job offer from a rival company that resulted in executives at PRASA nearly doubling his salary to keep him. As PRASA’s head of engineering, Mtimkulu was behind a transaction to purchase new train locomotives in a deal worth more than $100 million from a Spanish train building company. The purchased locomotives were found to be out of specification and could not be utilised on South Africa’s rail network.
