Breaking News Today - Monday 21 September 2021

African Start-up News Headlines:

Nigerian cybersecurity startup Aeon announced it has closed a $1 million pre-seed round led by defence-tech firm Terra Industries. Resilience 17 (the fund founded by Flutterwave CEO Olugbenga Agboola), Kaleo, DFS Labs, Ajim Capital and Seedstars also participated. Aeon, is building a cyber-defence suite for critical industries in the Global South, starting in Nigeria. Products include Aeon Edge (perimeter hardware) and Aeon Console (AI-powered monitoring and compliance across code, cloud and endpoints). The funding will be used to expand the engineering team, advance products and convert pilots with financial services and cloud providers into commercial deals.

Headline News Today

Africa Takes 45% of JPMorgan’s New $328bn Frontier Bond Index

JPMorgan plans to launch its Government Bond Index–Emerging Markets Edge (GBI-EM Edge) by the end of September, creating a dedicated benchmark for frontier-market local-currency government bonds. The index will track about $328 billion of debt across 425 instruments in 26 countries and 24 currencies.African markets will hold the largest regional weight at 44.5%, ahead of Asia at 31.5%. Country allocations are capped at 8%. Egypt and Morocco sit at the cap. Nigeria returns to a JPMorgan local-currency benchmark for the first time since its 2015 removal from the flagship GBI-EM, with a 7.4% weight covering $17.47 billion of naira bonds. Kenya, Tunisia, Uganda, Angola and Zambia also feature.
Eligible bonds must have at least $250 million equivalent outstanding and 2.5 years to maturity. The index’s estimated yield is about 10.4%, roughly 440 basis points above JPMorgan’s mainstream emerging-market local-currency index. Coverage has grown from 11 markets and $56 billion in 2017, reflecting deeper issuance, auctions and foreign-investor access. The launch, nearly two decades after the hard-currency NEXGEM index, gives global funds a formal way to allocate to African domestic government debt.

Niger Uranium Project gets $414 US Investment

The US government has approved up to $414 million in financing for Global Atomic’s Dasa uranium project in Niger, marking a return of US investment to the country 2 years after American troops withdrew from the country. The US International Development Finance Corporation, approved the debt facility for the Canadian miner’s project in the Agadez region. Global Atomic owns 80% of the Dasa project, with Niger’s government holding the remaining 20%. Global Atomic describes the deposit as the highest-grade uranium project in Africa. Its current mine plan targets 68.1 million pounds of uranium oxide over 23 years, giving Niger another source of production as demand for nuclear fuel increases.

Uganda To Reduce Borrowing and Spending

Uganda plans to spend Shs 79.22 trillion ($20.1 billion) in the 2027/28 financial year, down 6.2% from the current Shs 84.39 trillion ($21.4 billion) national budget. The finance ministry announced the Shs 5.17 trillion ($1.3 billion) cut as it begins planning work for next year’s budget.

Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Treasury Ramathan Ggoobi said the lower figure is meant to cut dependence on borrowing and foreign loans and to spend money more carefully. Government departments have been told to stick to seven priorities, including raising more tax revenue at home, managing oil money carefully, and pushing the government's Tenfold Growth Strategy.

Growth is forecast at 9.1%, up from a revised 7.6%, mainly because commercial oil production is expected to start this year. The Shs 79.22 trillion ($20.1 billion) figure is still a first draft and can change before Parliament approves the final budget. The ministry has not said how much borrowing will be reduced by.

Breaking Business and Market News Shorts:

Brent crude oil prices have dropped below $101.70 per barrel this morning, declining for the fourth straight session, and hitting a ten-day low. The downward momentum is pressured by hopes that increased diplomatic efforts could help end the Iran conflict and restore oil production and supply from the region.
Copper futures have lifted to around $6.65 per pound this morning, extending gains for a fifth consecutive session. The price was supported by signs of stronger demand and expectations of tighter global supply. The Yangshan premium, a key gauge of Chinese copper demand, rose to $121 a ton last week, reaching its highest level since November 2022.

China’s 10-year government bond yield fell to around 1.67% on Monday, hitting its lowest level since July 2025, after the People’s Bank of China kept its benchmark lending rates unchanged for a 16th straight month at record lows. The one-year loan prime rate (LPR) was maintained at 3.0%
Platinum futures lifted to above $1,800 an ounce today, advancing for a third consecutive session as retreating oil prices lifted demand for non-yielding metals. platinum supply remains structurally constrained, with WPIC expecting deficits to average 331,000 oz annually from 2026-2030, despite a moderate surplus in 2026 forecast.

SoftBank has launched a $10 billion and a 1 billion ‌euro-denominated senior unsecured bond raise to fund its investment in OpenAI, a term sheet indicated today. Funds will be used to fund SoftBank's $10 billion payment for the third tranche of its follow-on investment in OpenAI, which is expected to close on 1 October this year.

Markets by Numbers

Currencies:

Currency markets indicate the US dollar stronger today. The Greenback is trading against the Euro at 1.14753 while trading against the Pound at 1.33773. The Yen is currently trading at 157.01 to the US dollar. The rand (ZAR), is currently trading at the 16.23 against the US dollar this morning.

Commodities:

Gold futures have dropped around 0.53% this morning, and currently trading at around $4360.46 per ounce.
Copper prices are up by 0.48% today, with prices currently around $6.6485 per pound
Silver futures are flat today, and currently trading at around $66.232 per ounce.
Platinum futures are down around -0.2% this morning, after an earlier spike, and currently trading at $1802.60, While Palladium is flat today, and currently trading around $1319.00 per ounce.
Lithium is trading 0.07% Higher today and currently at CNY/T 134 400
Brent crude oil prices are trending around -1.7% lower today, and currently trading around $102.09, with WTI trading at $98.53 currently
Cocoa futures have plunged around -7.7% today, and currently trading at $5327 per ton.
Coffee futures are up around 1.45% today, and currently trading at around $2.8050 per pound

Crypto Currencies:

Bitcoin prices are up around 0.68% today, and trading at around $81 738 per coin currently
Ether prices are around 1% higher this morning, and currently trading around $2671.76

(All prices quoted at approximately 07H30 Central African Time)

African General News Briefs:

Tourism is getting boosted in Africa with tourist arrivals in Madagascar have grown by 5% in 2026. The Indian Ocean island nation recorded nearly 150,000 arrivals in the first half of 2026, a ministry of tourism official told French broadcaster RFI. British Airways has also announced that it will launch flights from London to Kilimanjaro, Tanzania's premier tourist destination. Flights will operate three times a week from London Gatwick, landing in Kilimanjaro, before going on to Zanzibar, the airline said

Uganda's army has announced that it has suspended military cooperation with Turkey, after demands for Ankara to hand over a prominent political blogger, Fred Lumbuye, who is a fierce critic of President Yoweri Museveni. Army chief Muhoozi Kainerugaba, Museveni's son, who is widely seen as a likely successor to the President, has repeatedly clashed with Turkish authorities over efforts to extradite Fred Lumbuye.