African markets and business updates

The East African Community (EAC) recorded strong growth in trade during the second quarter of 2026, with total trade reaching USD 52.3 billion. Rising exports sustained a regional trade surplus, while trade within the Community and with major African and global markets continued to expand. According to the EAC Quarterly Statistics Bulletin for April–June 2026, total trade increased by 37.0 percent from USD 38.2 billion in the same quarter of 2025. Exports rose by 41.3 percent to USD 26.3 billion, while imports grew by 32.9 percent to USD 26.0 billion. The region recorded a trade surplus of USD 0.3 billion, compared with a deficit of USD 945.3 million a year earlier.…

MOMENTUM GROUP LIMITED Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa Registration number: 2000/031756/06 JSE share code: MTM A2X share code: MTM NSX share code: MMT ISIN code: ZAE000269890 MOMENTUM METROPOLITAN LIFE LIMITED Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa Registration number: 1904/002186/06 Company code: MMIG LEI: 378900E0A78B7549C212 (“MML”) […] MOMENTUM GROUP LIMITED Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa Registration number: 2000/031756/06 JSE share code: MTM A2X share code: MTM NSX share code: MMT ISIN code: ZAE000269890 MOMENTUM METROPOLITAN LIFE LIMITED Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa Registration number: 1904/002186/06 Company code: MMIG LEI: 378900E0A78B7549C212 (“MML”) (collectively “the Group”) CHANGES TO THE GROUP BOARDS AND COMMITTEES In compliance with paragraph 6.71 of the JSE Limited (“JSE”) Listings Requirements and paragraph 6.42 of the JSE Debt and Specialist Securities Listings Requirements, shareholders and noteholders are advised of the following: APPOINTMENT OF AN INDEPENDENT NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR The Group is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr Edwin George Splinter as an independent non-executive director of both Momentum Group Limited and MML (the “Group Boards”), as well as a member of the Group’s Risk, Capital and Compliance Committee, with effect from 15 September 2026. He will remain a member of the Group’s Actuarial Committee on which he has served as a non- director member since March 2025. Mr Splinter is an experienced actuary and governance professional with more than three decades of leadership experience in the South African financial services industry. He previously served as an independent actuarial consultant, providing statutory actuarial services across Africa and has contributed to the actuarial profession through his service on the Actuarial Society of South Africa’s Disciplinary Committee. He is a Fellow of the Actuarial Society of South Africa and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics and Statistics from the University of Cape Town. He qualified as an Actuary in 2002. Mr Splinter’s appointment will enhance the skill set of the Group Boards and was made in accordance with the Group’s Nomination and Evaluation of Directors Policy.…

The Foreign Minister reiterated Ghana’s desire to see an amicable resolution of the historical impasse. While acknowledging that Ghana’s decision of January 6, 2025 has not been reversed, the Government of Ghana welcomes the adoption of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2797 which expressed full support for the Secretary General and his Personal Envoy in facilitating and conducting negotiations taking as basis Morocco’s Autonomy proposal with a view to achieving a just, lasting and mutually acceptable resolution to the dispute, consistent with the UN Charter.…

The Port Authority of Douala (PAD) and authorities in Garoua are reviewing the legal framework for rehabilitating the city’s river port and defining how it will be managed during the transition. The proposed arrangements are among the documents being examined at a workshop in Garoua from September 14 to 19, ahead of their planned adoption and signing. The discussions cover a draft agreement between PAD and the Port Authority of Garoua, or PAG, as well as specifications setting out the terms for renovating and rehabilitating the port’s infrastructure and equipment and PAD’s role in its transitional management.…

The East African Community (EAC) and four United Nations agencies have committed to establish a structured partnership framework that will anchor coordination and joint action on regional health and development priorities. The proposed framework will provide a coordinated mechanism for supporting regional priorities and translating them into action that improves the lives of East Africans. The framework was discussed during a high-level meeting between the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) and the EAC Secretary General, Amb. Stephen P.…

Members of Parliament and Minister for Relief, Disaster Preparedness and Refugees Sam Engola have questioned how Uganda can break Karamoja’s recurring hunger cycle, with calls for a shift from emergency food distribution to irrigation, commercial agriculture, water infrastructure and other long-term interventions. Appearing before Parliament’s Presidential Affairs Committee on Wednesday, 16 September 2026, Engola said the current food intervention was necessary to save lives but could not provide a lasting solution to a problem that has persisted for about 40 years.…

Afriland First Bank has signed a letter of intent with the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) for a proposed €50 million financing facility for businesses in Cameroon. The document was signed in Yaoundé on September 14 during Islamic Development Bank Group Day. The proposed facility, equivalent to about CFAF32.8 billion, is intended to expand financing for small and medium-sized enterprises and other eligible private-sector projects. Targeted sectors include agriculture, agro-industry, healthcare, manufacturing and transport.…

From building robots in his head as a child to studying philosophy, researching AI safety, advising the UN, and building industrial AI, Samuel Segun’s career has followed one question: how should AI work in the real world? Growing up in Minna, North-Central Nigeria, Samuel Segun dreamed of building sci-fi robots. But after studying philosophy, his focus shifted from Terminator-style apocalypses to the immediate dangers of everyday algorithms.…

President and Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, has commended the leadership of Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX Group) for transforming Nigeria’s capital market. He spoke at the Facts Behind the Offer presentation and Opening Gong ceremony for the Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE, held on Monday, […]

President and Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, has commended the leadership of Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX Group) for transforming Nigeria’s capital market. He spoke at the Facts Behind the Offer presentation and Opening Gong ceremony for the Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE, held on Monday, […] President and Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, has commended the leadership of Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX Group) for transforming Nigeria’s capital market.…