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Breaking News Today – Friday 12 December 2025
EV Sales in US Hit by Subsidy Hang-over Tesla's US sales fell sharply in November to 39,800 vehicles, a 23% decline from 51,513 units in November 2024. This is the lowest monthly figure since January 2022 and a near four-year low. This drop occurred despite the mid-year launch of cheaper "Standard" variants of the Model
No Free Lunch Podcast – Building Affordable Biotech Solutions For Africa
In this episode of "No Free Lunch," host Greg Stewart interviewed Ethan Hunter, CEO and co-founder of Immobazyme a start-up biotech company in South Africa's Western Cape Region. The discussion highlights the company's journey from its initial focus on cellular agriculture to its strategic pivot towards the cosmetics industry, and pharmaceutical products, leveraging precision fermentation
China's Critical Minerals Strategy in Africa – Report
Introduction and Key Findings The report, released this week and published by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, examines China's strategic dominance in Africa's critical minerals sector. This sector encompasses nickel, graphite, manganese, cobalt, copper, lithium, and rare earth elements (REEs). These minerals are essential for electric vehicles (EVs), renewable energy, semiconductors, AI, defence, and
Breaking News Today – Thursday 11 December 2025
US Fed Trims Rate for Third Consecutive Cut The US Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to a range of 3.50%-3.75% late yesterday, marking the third consecutive reduction this year with a softening job market and persistent inflation above 2%. The decision, passed in a divided 9-3 vote, with dissents
South Africa's Debt Burden – Crises Without a Voice
Despite recent signs of improvement in the overall economy in Africa's largest economy, reality is that South Africa's fiscal landscape is strained, with national government gross debt projected at R6.09 trillion for FY2025/26 (April 2025–March 2026), per the National Treasury's May 2025 Budget Review. This equates to a conventional debt-to-GDP ratio of 77.4%, up from
Breaking News Today – Wednesday 10 December 2025
Business News Today Eskom Signs Deal with Ferro-Chrome Industry South Africa's state power utility, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with major ferrochrome producers Samancor Chrome and the Glencore-Merafe Chrome Venture to rescue the beleaguered smelter industry. The sector, vital for stainless steel exports and employing thousands, has faced collapse due to electricity tariffs surging
Is the Castel Falling? – African Beverage Major – Non Family "Outsider" Leadership Shift
The Castel Group, founded in 1949 by French entrepreneur Pierre Castel and his siblings in Bordeaux, France, is a privately held multinational beverage conglomerate with annual revenues exceeding €5 billion and employing around 40,000 employees. Initially the company focused on wine trading and production, making it the world's third-largest wine producer. The company expanded into
Breaking News Today – Tuesday 9 December 2025
Business News Today Oil Prices Slide Further Brent crude oil futures traded lower with a -2% drop this morning, at around $62.4 per barrel on after sliding -2% in the previous session, as expectations of a supply glut outweighed geopolitical risks. Investors are now awaiting reports from the IEA and OPEC+, due later this week,
African Tech Innovation Awards 2025 – Winners Announcement
2025 has showcased a massive array of exceptional business and product innovations across the African continent, where Africans are surging ahead with fintech, bio-tech, agri-tech and enviro-tech solutions that are making a difference in communities and industries, and building eco-systems of products and solutions that are answering some of Africa's biggest challenges. As we considered
No Free Lunch Podcast – SME'ing in Africa – What it Takes
As part of our Small Business Appreciation month this December I had an engaging chat with Andre de Wet of Price Check fame in this episode of the "No Free Lunch Podcast". Andre, is a seasoned entrepreneur with extensive experience in building and scaling businesses across emerging markets. The discussion centres around the challenges and
Breaking News Today – Monday 8 December 2025
Business News Today SpaceX to Rocket to Record Evaluation SpaceX is reportedly in talks for secondary share sale valued at a $800B valuation, which would make it America’s most valuable private company. According to the Wall Street Journal, SpaceX is launching a secondary share sale that would value Elon Musk’s rocket maker at $800 billion — double
No Free Lunch Podcast – An African Success Story
In this episode of "No Free Lunch," host Greg Stewart delves into the inspiring journey of Azoza, a South African company that emerged from a management buyout of Europe Assist. The discussion features Lynette Mutsekwa and Nelson Soares, the driving forces behind Azoza, who share their experiences and challenges in transforming the company into a
Crypto is the "Real Money" – Musk
Elon Musk's latest remarks on cryptocurrency, made during a podcast interview with Indian entrepreneur Nikhil Kamath (co-founder of Zerodha) this week, frame crypto currencies, and particularly Bitcoin, as a form of "real money" due to its intrinsic tie to energy consumption. Musk didn't explicitly call crypto the outright "currency of the world," but he positioned
Breaking News Today – Friday 5 December 2025
Business News Today Glencore's Announcement on Collahuasi Copper JV with Anglo American During its annual Capital Markets Day investor presentation in Baar, Switzerland this week, Glencore Plc announced its intention to maintain an equal ownership stake in the Collahuasi copper joint venture (JV) with Anglo American Plc in northern Chile, should the operation merge with
SARB's Jibar Cessation Announcement: Overview and Implications
The South African Reserve Bank's (SARB) press release yesterday (3 December 2025), formally announced the permanent discontinuation of the Johannesburg Interbank Average Rate (Jibar), South Africa's key short-term benchmark interest rate. This will come into effect immediately after its final publication on December 31, 2026. The change marks the end of a multi-year reform process
Breaking News Today – Thursday 4 December 2025
Business News Today Business Sentiment in South Africa Improves The RMB/BER Business Confidence Index (BCI) for South Africa's Q4 2025 climbed 5 points to 44, from a one-year low of 39 in Q3, marking the first improvement after two consecutive quarterly declines from 40 in Q2 and 39 in Q3. At 44. It signals that
African Tech Innovation Awards 2025 – Finalist Announcement
4 December 2025 – Business tech Africa today announces the category finalists for the second Business Tech Africa Tech Innovation Awards. This year's accolade is set to build on the inaugural awards introduced by Business Tech Africa last year, where new fintech Tipped, took overall top honours. This year there were a few changes to
Breaking News Today – Wednesday 3 December 2025
Business News Today Amazon Announces On-Site AI Service Offering Amazon announced a new innovative AI product yesterday called “AI Factories”. The service would allow big corporations and governments to run its AI systems in their own data centres, where customers supply the power source and the data centre, and AWS plugs in the AI system, manages it,
African Energy Chamber condemns UK’s withdrawal from Mozambique Gas Project
UK’s withdrawal from The Mozambique LNG, Project highlights how Western climate agendas undermine Africa’s urgent need for energy security and economic growth The UK government’s recent decision to withdraw $1.15 billion in support from the TotalEnergies-led Mozambique LNG project is according to the African Energy Chamber (AEC), is a concerning example of Western policy priorities undermining
Fuel Price Increase Shock for Business This Christmas
South African Fuel Price Hike: December 2025 Adjustment The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) announced the monthly fuel price adjustments today (December 2, 2025), effective from Wednesday, December 3, 2025, at midnight. These changes are calculated monthly under the Fuel Price Formula, which determines the Basic Fuel Price (BFP) based on international and