Breaking News Today - Tuesday 1 September 2026

African Start-up News Headlines:

• DealMakers Africa data for the first half of 2026, published Yesterday, shows Kenya overtaking Nigeria as Africa’s top M&A market by value. Kenyan deal value rose 671 percent year on year to $1.44 billion. Nigeria still logged the most transactions but value fell 89 percent to about $106 million, its weakest first half in nearly a decade. FX risk, election caution, valuation gaps and the new tax regime are cited. Nedbank’s NCBA stake is part of the Kenyan jump. The split matters: East Africa is taking the large cheques; Nigeria is doing volume without ticket size.
  
• All On and Energise Africa have announced a $4 million investment in Maskh Nigeria Limited to expand solar-powered mini-grids across 19 communities in Jigawa and Bauchi states.Maskh Nigeria Limited is a company that provides services in renewable energy, construction, engineering, electrification, and procurement. It has experience working with both public and private sector organisations. The project is being funded through the Demand Aggregation for Renewable Energy Technology (DART) Programme and is expected to reach nearly 100,000 people across the two states.
  
• Mamor Capital Ventures, a black women-owned and managed venture capital firm, has reached a $18.6 million (R300 million) first close for its debut fund after more than three years of fundraising.The firm is targeting a final close of $34 million (R550 million) and will invest in post-revenue South African technology businesses that use technology to widen access to digital and financial services.
  

Business News Today 

Eskom Doubles Profit to R30.3bn as Sales Fall

Eskom posted a second straight annual profit, R30.3 billion after tax for the year to March, more than double the restated R14 billion a year earlier. Revenue rose 4.1 percent to R354.7 billion even as electricity sales dropped 6.2 percent to 178 TWh, hit by smelter cuts, mining shutdowns and rooftop solar. Diesel spend fell about R10.6 billion after load-shedding almost disappeared. Net debt declined and cash was still large after an April bond redemption. Municipal arrears remain the hole in the energy entity's operation, amounting to around R111–119 billion, with a path toward R358 billion by 2031 if unpaid bills are not stopped. Profits will fund a R343 billion five-year capex plan, including Eskom Green. The next problem is building demand due to de-industrialisation, not blackouts as has been the case historically.

Etu Energias Pre-empts Chevron’s Angola Blocks for $260m

Angolan independent Etu Energias signed to buy Chevron’s 31 percent in Block 14 and 15.5 percent in Block 14K for $260 million cash, effective 1 January 2026, plus contingent payments of up to $25 million a year, capped at $250 million to 2038. Etu exercised pre-emption after Chevron had agreed a sale to Energean in March. Combined with existing stakes, Etu will hold 60 percent of Block 14 and wants operatorship, subject to ANPG. Block 14 produces about 42,000 bpd gross. Close is aimed at early 2027. Local capital is taking a Chevron-operated deepwater position that a Mediterranean independent had already priced.

Abu Dhabi’s ePointZero Buys 90% of Azura Power

ePointZero, a 2PointZero Group energy unit, will take 90 percent of Azura Power, the 752 MW independent producer Phillip Ihenacho’s Amaya Capital founded in 2010. Azura's operations sit in Nigeria, Senegal and Mozambique. Its largest plant, Azura-Edo (461 MW), is near Benin City in Edo State, Nigeria. Amaya Capital, which founded the platform will retain a 10% stake in the operation. ePointZero is buying out Actis and Africa50. Azura runs Azura-Edo (461 MW, Nigeria), Tobene (116 MW, Senegal) and CTRG (175 MW, Mozambique), each supplying about a tenth of national baseload, plus a 1.5 GW gas, renewable and storage pipeline. The purchase price was not disclosed. Closing will still require approval from regulators. This deal is one of the larger Gulf-into-Africa generation deals of the year and a partial exit for the DFIs that backed Nigeria’s first project-financed IPP.

Breaking Business and Market News Shorts:  

• Bidvest reported year to June revenue of R130.3 billion, up 3%, and trading profit of R13.1 billion, up 8%. Headline earnings per share from continuing operations rose 6% to 1,864.2 cents. Operating cash was up 17% to R17.2 billion, and free cash flow up 27% to R12.5 billion. Final dividend declared was 483 cents, up 7%.

• Gold traded below $4,430 an ounce on Tuesday, hitting a two-week low as rising oil prices and hawkish remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh strengthened expectations for a US rate 

  hike this month. Oil prices advanced for a second straight session after US forces struck an island in 

  the Strait of Hormuz, while Iran responded with attacks on the UAE and Jordan

• South Africa's fuel prices will jump from Wednesday with official September adjustments taking effect at midnight tonight. Petrol 93 and 95 both rise R1.34 a litre. Wholesale diesel 50ppm rises R2.94 and 5ppm R3.15. Inland 95 petrol moves to about R26.92 a litre, while inland 5ppm diesel wholesale approaches R30

• Copper futures rose above $6.6 per pound this morning extending gains for a second consecutive session amid ongoing supply-side constraints. Data showed that copper output in top producer Chile fell 9.4% in July from a year earlier, highlighting tightening conditions in global markets.

Markets by Numbers 

Currency markets indicate the US dollar gaining today . The Greenback is trading against the Euro at 1.16084 while trading against the Pound at 1.35472 The Yen is currently trading at 159.84 to the dollar. The rand (ZAR), is currently trading around the 16.10 mark against the US dollar this morning.

Commodities:  

• Gold futures are flat this morning, and currently trading at around $4441.00 per ounce.  
• Copper prices are just over 0,7% higher today, with prices currently around $6.6418 per pound
• Silver futures are around 0.4% higher today, after a steep drop yesterday, and currently trading at around $66.826 per ounce.
• Platinum futures are up around 1.3% this morning, currently trading at $1815.30, While Palladium is marginally higher today, and currently trading around $1379.50 per ounce.
• Brent crude oil prices are trending 0.3% Higher today, and currently trading around $90.77, with WTI trading at $86.30 currently
• Cocoa futures continue to gain momentum, 1.8% higher today, and currently trading at $6771 per ton. 
• Coffee futures are -0.4% lower today, and currently trading at around $3.1150 per pound

Crypto Currencies: 

• Bitcoin prices are 0.71% higher today, and trading at around $79136 per coin currently 
• Ether prices are 0.6% higher this morning, and currently trading around $2462.04

(All prices quoted at approximately 07H5 Central African Time) 

African General News Briefs:

• Kenya’s JKIA strike strands passengers: Aviation workers disrupted Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Kenya yesterday. Kenyan passengers said they were left in the terminal while some foreign travellers were hotelled. Exporters warned that perishable freight and transfer reliability could cost Kenya slots on European and Gulf routes if the stoppage lingers. JKIA is the region’s main hub; even a short outage hits floriculture and pharma more than passenger headlines suggest.

• South African venture capital firm Mamor Capital Ventures has reached a ZAR 300 M ($18.8 M) first close for its inaugural fund, allowing it to begin investing in post-revenue technology businesses in South Africa. The Johannesburg-based, black women-owned firm is still raising toward its ZAR 550 M ($34 million) target after more than three years of fundraising.