Business & Tech News
South African Electricity Outage Crises Returns:
The South African power utility Eskom, has hit the news cycles again as the country was plunged into its worst power supply outage level – called Load-shedding, in over a year. Outages hit level six – the highest on the scale with areas experiencing over four hours of no electricity at a time with eight hours in total over a 24-hour period. The level was however modified to level four as of this morning, with 8 hours of no power a day but in shorter modules of 2,5 hours at a time. Businesses have been hard hit with manufacturing plants having to close over the weekend.
In 2023 the minister of electricity in South Africa, Kgosientso Ramokgopa, is reported as saying load-shedding costs the South African economy R1 billion a day. Chris Yellend, an electricity consultant, posted on X indicating that the government had used massive amounts of emergency diesel fuel in their gas turbines to keep the power on during the G20 meeting in the country and “Pumped storage units-for operational needs to avoid load-shedding, well now its stage 6 load-shedding” he stated, indicating a lack of maintenance priorities had been eclipsed by the need to keep the lights on during the G20.
Alibaba with Big AI Push:
Alibaba, the Chinese ecommerce group, has made an announcement this morning that it plans to invest around $52.49 billion in its cloud computing and artificial intelligence infrastructure over the next three years. The Chinese e-commerce giant issued its financial results on Friday indicating $38,69 billion in the three-month period ending December 2024, that was ahead of estimates. Alibaba said the total investment amount exceeds the company’s spending in AI and cloud computing over the past decade and indicates they are looking to compete with other global trading platforms such as Amazon.
Alibaba is certainly a major player in China’s AI race, drawing in investors with strategic business deals. Its share prices have spiked by over 68% this year already and the investment announcement is set to drive further growth. Other Chinese firms have also been investing into the AI sector, with ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, earmarking over 150 billion yuan in capital expenditure for 2025 on AI developments.
Euro Rises as German Conservatives Win Election:
The euro rose by 0.5% to above $1.05 this morning, nearing a four-week high after Germany’s conservative Christian Democrats secured a win in the national election. Exit polls were largely in line with market expectations. Investors are now focused on the timeline for forming a coalition, with conservative opposition leader Friedrich Merz aiming to establish a coalition government within the next two months. A strong and clear leadership is seen in the region as a critical step towards pushing forward much-needed fiscal reforms, particularly as Germany grapples with economic stagnation, and the knock-on effects of the ongoing Ukraine conflict. A reform of the debt brake, which has prevented and inhibited investment for years, is expected to provide support for both Eurozone stocks and the common currency. On the economic front, recent data showed that Eurozone private sector activity held steady in February, with the PMI holding steady at 50.
Markets by Numbers
Currencies:
The US Dollar is currently trading weaker at 1.05088 against the Euro, at 1.26659 against the Pound, and also weaker against the Yen at 149.42 Yen to the dollar currently. The rand has also gained ground against a weaker dollar and is trading at R18.33 against the dollar currently.
Commodities:
- Gold prices have risen in early trade today, and trading at $2,938 currently. Copper is trading at 4.5460 currently. Silver has also traded lower this morning, and at 32.644 currently.
- Platinum prices are trending slightly higher today, and at $981 currently, while Palladium prices are also trading lower and currently trading at $976
- Brent Oil prices are trading lower at $74.37 currently with WTI also trading downwards at $70.26 currently.
- Cocoa futures have dropped this morning, with prices currently at $9011 per ton.
- Coffee prices have remained below $400, and trading at $399.74 currently.
Crypto Currencies:
- Bitcoin has seen prices trade lower this morning and is currently trading at $95723.
- Ether prices have lost over 3% today and at $2726 currently.
- $Trumpcoin has dropped almost 7% in price today and currently trading at $15.16
(All prices quoted at approximately 08H40 – Central African Time)
Other News in Africa Today
Congo Requests Chad Support in Conflict:
With the Congolese Rebel movement now having captured a large portion of the DRC, Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi has announced that he will be seeking to launch a unity government, that will include opposition parties according to his spokesperson Tshisekedi has been seeking assistance from various African states for military support but is facing increasing pressure domestically to find a peaceful resolution of the conflict that has seen thousands killed and hundreds of thousands displaced by the fighting. There has been growing criticism of his government and the handling of an offensive by Rwanda-backed M23 rebels in the mineral rich eastern areas bordering Rwanda. Presidency spokesperson Tina Salama said Tshisekedi would form a government of national unity and make changes in the leadership of the coalition, without giving further details.
Sudan’s Military Gain Ground in Conflict Areas:
Sudan’s military finally broke a year-long siege on the strategic city of Obeid, on Sunday, and have reportedly restored access to a critical area in the south-central region of Sudan, thereby strengthening supply routes in its nearly two years of war against a notorious paramilitary group, officials claimed. The military also kicked the Rebel Rapid Support Forces from its last stronghold in the White Nile province in another setback to the notorious group, military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Nabil Abdullah said in a statement. Sudan was plunged into chaos in April last year when simmering tensions between the military and the RSF exploded into open warfare across the country.
The fighting, which wrecked the capital, Khartoum, and other urban areas has been marked by atrocities including mass rape and ethnically motivated killings that amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, especially in the western region of Darfur, according to the United Nations and international rights groups
