African Business

Security Council Report has published its October 2026 Monthly Forecast, featuring a dedicated section on cooperation between the United Nations and the African Union. The piece reviews the past decade of the UN-AU partnership and outlines options for how the two organisations might work together going forward. It is part of the regular forecasting series on upcoming Security Council business.

Interest is building around an upcoming football match between Burundi and Algeria, with the fixture trending in searches across Spanish-speaking countries. The buzz comes amid a busy stretch for African football: CAF president Patrice Motsepe visited Morocco's national team ahead of their game against Lesotho, underlining heightened attention on continental fixtures. Fans are following the Burundi-Algeria meeting as part of the current round of African qualifiers and tournament competition.

South African investment group Purple Group has launched Hello Purple, a new embedded finance division that will package the company's own technology and offer it to fintech developers. The move lets other businesses build Purple's financial infrastructure directly into their own products. The launch was reported by FinTech Futures and is being shared within banking and fintech circles as another sign of established financial firms moving into the embedded finance market.

Airtel Money has set the price for its initial public offering, paving the way for a stock market debut valuing the mobile money business at around £5.3 billion. The listing, tied to Bharti Airtel's African payments arm, is one of the larger financial-sector floats seen recently, and investors are watching how it performs once trading begins.

The Bank of Mozambique has kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 9.25% at its latest monetary policy meeting. The decision means borrowing costs in the southern African nation stay steady, with the bank opting not to adjust policy amid ongoing monitoring of inflation and economic conditions. Details on the bank's reasoning were not immediately available.

Zambia's central bank has lowered its key interest rate, with policymakers saying inflation is expected to remain within the country's target range. The decision signals growing confidence that price pressures are easing, potentially lowering borrowing costs for businesses and households. The move is drawing attention across regional financial markets as one of the notable African monetary policy shifts.

Researchers are applying deep learning to swine deadstock sites to identify wildlife disease risks, according to Pork Business. The approach aims to flag patterns that could signal disease spread between wildlife and livestock, an area of growing concern for pork producers and biosecurity officials monitoring threats like African swine fever.

A new proposal to bring a Formula 1 race back to South Africa has emerged, with the key question being whether the plan is financially and logistically realistic. South Africa last hosted a Grand Prix at Kyalami in 1993, and F1 has repeatedly been linked to a return to the African continent. Motorsport fans and business observers are debating the credibility of the latest bid.

South African small and medium enterprises are being urged to modernise their technology or risk being left behind. The warning frames a 'tech trap' where businesses hesitate to adopt new tools, fall behind competitors, and then face costly rushed upgrades. The message is that digital modernisation is now a necessity rather than an option for SA SMEs trying to stay competitive.

ICBA Africa is advocating for evidence-based dialogue on low- and no-calorie sweeteners across the African continent, according to a piece published in African Business. The organisation's effort comes amid ongoing debate over the health effects of sugar substitutes and their role in addressing rising rates of obesity and diabetes in Africa.

Fashion industry leaders from Asia, Africa and the Arab world are building new partnerships in Moscow, according to Business of Fashion reporting. The gathering signals efforts to strengthen cooperation between these regions' fashion sectors, with Moscow positioning itself as a hub for non-Western fashion alliances. Details about the participants and outcomes of the initiative remain limited.