Business & Tech News
Flying Taxi’s Planned for Indian Airport: India’s Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru, has ambitious plans to launch a flying taxi service, in partnership with Sarla Aviation. This initiative aims to provide a faster, cleaner, and more efficient transportation option for commuters. The project will feature seven-seater electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, reducing travel time from KIA to Electronics City to just 19 minutes for the 37,5km journey, compared to the usual two-hours odd, journey currently experienced by business travellers via road transport. The Sarla eVTOL fare would be in the region of $21 compared to a hail transport ground fare of $29 currently. Commencement of operations are still several years away; however, it will mark the first significant step toward introducing sustainable local aviation technology into urban transport systems.
HSBC Appoints First Female CFO: HSBC Holdings, announced earlier today (Tuesday 22 Oct) that it would be merging its commercial and investment banking operations into a single entity in a major overhaul under new CEO Georges Elhedery that will also see changes in key senior staff positions. In an effort to streamline the Asia-focused bank’s business and reduce costs, HSBC said it would be restructuring into four strategic business units and slashing senior management positions. The new leadership structure, which includes the appointment of Pam Kaur as the lender’s first female chief financial officer (CFO), would “unleash our full potential and drive success into the future,” Elhedery said in a memo to staff.
SAP Shares Soar: Shares in SAP, saw gains of 4.4% in Lang & Schwarz pre-market trade on Tuesday after the German software company raised its full-year targets on strong cloud business growth in the third quarter. The European enterprise software giant, saw cloud revenue grow by 27%. Adjusted for currency fluctuations, this equates to $4.71 billion revenue in the third quarter. The growth has been boosted by their Cloud ERP Suite resource planning software sales which rose by over 36%. Artificial intelligence was a key growth driver, according to CEO Christian Klein. “Around 30% of our cloud contracts in the third quarter included AI use scenarios,” he commented.
Market News
Markets: Indices in the US closed yesterday with the NASDAQ up by 0,18%, the S&P 500 -0,18% down and the Dow Jones closing -0,8% down. The Nikkei closed -1.38% down today at 38411, while the Hang Seng has lost steam this morning and is down by-1,57% this morning and is currently at 20487.
Currencies: The US Dollar is currently trading at 1.0828 against the Euro, at 1,300 against the Pound, and at 150.83 against the Yen. The rand has strengthened slightly today, and is currently trading at R17.54 to the US dollar.
Commodities:
- Gold prices have continue to gain momentum and is currently trading at $2,734
- Platinum prices are currently at $1018, with Palladium trading softer at $1074 currently
- Brent crude is currently trading at $73.72 with WTI trading at $69.48 currently.
- Cocoa prices have gained some ground this morning and is currently trading at 5601 pounds,
(All prices quoted at 09H30 CAT)
Other News in Africa Today
Mozambique Riots Over Opposition Murders and Poll Irregularities: Government forces in Maputo, Mozambique, fired live rounds and tear gas into crowds of protestors yesterday, with several people, including two journalists and a security guard injured in the process. The riot police were dispatched by the ruling Frelimo government to shut down the protest action aimed at protesting alleged electoral fraud, only days after two opposition party leaders were shot dead.
Several hundred people, scattered as heavily armed police marched down a main street on Monday to suppress the protest action that authorities had banned. Opposition leader Venancio Mondlane, who ran for president in the October 9 election, had called for a general strike to contest early results showing the ruling Frelimo party ahead. Frelimo has ruled the East African state for 29 years since its independence from Portugal. International election observers had reported irregularities in the election processes. The European Union expressed its worries about the “violent dispersal” of the protest.
Zambian Judges Fired: Three top Zambian constitutional court judges, have been fired by Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema over alleged judicial misconduct. This has raised accusations of political interference in the judiciary. The three Constitutional Court judges had presided over a presidential petition in 2016 in which they dismissed Hichilema’s challenge against the election victory of former President Edgar Lungu, and they had also been part of a controversial ruling allowing Lungu to stand in the 2021 elections, despite having twice served as Zambia’s president. Their dismissal comes after they had brought an unsuccessful court application for a review of a judicial panel’s decision recommending their suspension.
Taiwan Rejects Embassy Move: In what is becoming a sticky political situation, Taiwan has again rejected a demand from the South African Government that it must move its representative office in the country from the capital of Pretoria, to the commercial center of Johannesburg. Taiwanese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Jeff Liu, announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the demand to move or shut the office entirely violated a 1997 agreement between the countries, on the location of their mutual representative offices following the severing of formal diplomatic relations. “Facing this kind of unreasonable demand, our side cannot grant our acceptance,” Liu said. South Africa maintains a liaison office in Taiwan’s capital, Taipei, and there are strong commercial ties between the countries. The office, Taiwan uses in Pretoria is legally Taiwanese property and Taipei says they retain the right to determine its location and status.
