African startups almost doubled their debt fundraising in 2025, even as equity financing from venture capital firms declined. Startups raised $1.8 billion in debt — a 91% increase from 2024 — accounting for 46% of the $3.9 billion secured by firms last year, according to a report released Thursday by the London-based African Private Capital Association. “We do think it is a trend that will stay in...
African startups almost doubled their debt fundraising in 2025, even as equity financing from venture capital firms declined. Startups raised $1.8 billion in debt — a 91% increase from 2024 — accounting for 46% of the $3.9 billion secured by firms last year, according to a report released Thursday by the London-based African Private Capital Association. “We do think it is a trend that will stay in the market, as we see in the global market,” Nadia Coulibaly, head of research at AVCA said in an interview, referring to the increase in credit. “It reflects tighter equity condition for startups. Equity costs a lot; investors are cautious.” Read More: 25 African Startups to Watch This Year Equity funding totaled $2.1 billion, down 21% from a year earlier. Startup equity funding in Africa surged through 2022 before accelerating inflation, higher interest rates and broader economic uncertainty prompted many investors — particularly foreign ones — to pull back. That shift has created space for more domestic financiers and debt providers. Africa-based development financial institutions are filling the gap. DFIs based on the continent contributed 63% of total funding to startups in 2025, “reversing the 2022–24 trend when international DFIs provided 94% of commitments,” according to the report. Nigeria Set to Pass Sweeping AI Rules for Digital Economy China’s DeepSeek Is Beating Out OpenAI and Google in Africa Africa Venture Capital Inflows Shrinks for Second Straight Year “African investors accounted for 45% of total commitments, up from an average of 23% between 2022 and 2024,” it said. While debt is gaining traction, it remains concentrated among a handful of large transactions. Six megadeals — including landmark rounds by Kenya’s Sun King and Senegal’s Wave — accounted for $1.1 billion, or 60%, of total debt funding. Debt is “becoming a defining anchor for the venture capital landscape,” Coulibaly said. It reflects “a maturing ecosystem” she said, adding that it will lead ...
(RTTNews) - Sompo Holdings, Inc. (SMPNY, 8630.T, NHOLF), a Japanese insurance holding company, on Friday reported its net income increased in the nine months ended December 31, 2025, compared with the previous year.
(RTTNews) - Sompo Holdings, Inc. (SMPNY, 8630.T, NHOLF), a Japanese insurance holding company, on Friday reported its net income increased in the nine months ended December 31, 2025, compared with the previous year.
The ruling temporarily blocks the Trump Administration from cutting $600 million in public health grants that had already been allocated to four Democratic-led states. (Image credit: Brynn Anderson/AP)
The ruling temporarily blocks the Trump Administration from cutting $600 million in public health grants that had already been allocated to four Democratic-led states. (Image credit: Brynn Anderson/AP)
The controversy over the IOC’s decision to bar the Ukrainian from competing has cast a long shadow over the Games The Winter Olympics have been presented as a stage for unity – a place where nations set aside conflict, athletes chase excellence, and the world gathers in a shared celebration of human potential. Yet Thursday was shadowed by controversy for the International Olympic Committee that ra...
The controversy over the IOC’s decision to bar the Ukrainian from competing has cast a long shadow over the Games The Winter Olympics have been presented as a stage for unity – a place where nations set aside conflict, athletes chase excellence, and the world gathers in a shared celebration of human potential. Yet Thursday was shadowed by controversy for the International Olympic Committee that raise difficult questions about neutrality and the limits of political expression in sport. The Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych was barred from competing after he insisted on wearing what he called a “helmet of memory”, created to honour Ukrainian athletes killed during Russia’s war against his country. He was informed only 21 minutes before racing by the IOC president, Kirsty Coventry, who spoke to the media in tears after she could not persuade him to change his mind. Continue reading...
t_kimura/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images It has been almost three years since I published my last article about Hermès International ( HESAY ) ( HESAF ) in March 2023. Back then I rated the stock as a "Sell" and I did not really write about the company and stock in the meantime, as I always saw the stock as too expensive. When looking at valuation multiples, the stock still seems very expensive...
t_kimura/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images It has been almost three years since I published my last article about Hermès International ( HESAY ) ( HESAF ) in March 2023. Back then I rated the stock as a "Sell" and I did not really write about the company and stock in the meantime, as I always saw the stock as too expensive. When looking at valuation multiples, the stock still seems very expensive, but from time to time it makes sense to take a closer look to determine whether the previously made assumptions still hold or whether the business might have changed in the last few years and valuation multiples above 50 can be justified today. There is no reason to build some kind of suspense at this point - Hermès is still overvalued in my opinion, and the necessary growth rates are extremely difficult for the company to achieve in the years to come. Although the "Sell" rating was not really accurate three years ago (the stock clearly underperformed the S&P 500, but increased about 37%, including dividends, which is a solid return over three years), I will once again explain why the business won't be able to achieve the necessary growth rates. Valuation Multiples My biggest issue I had with Hermès in the last few years was the extremely high valuation multiples the stock was trading for. Hermès is a great business, without much doubt, but to make it a good investment, we must purchase a stock for a reasonable price, and right now, the stock is trading for a P/E ratio of 52.8 and a P/FCF ratio of 57.7. Valuation multiples can sometimes be misleading and not always an accurate description of the stock as an investment, but valuation multiples above 50 are only justified by extremely high and consistent growth rates. Data by YCharts Without knowing much about the business at this point, when only looking at the valuation multiple, we must classify Hermès as very expensive. But we can back that assessment up by using a discounted cash flow calculation, which leads us to a s...
lersan8910/iStock via Getty Images Investment Thesis Eos Energy ( EOSE ) is one of those rare stocks where the story and the numbers are actually colliding in real-time. On one hand, we’re talking about a company at the nexus of US energy security, AI-driven power demand, and long-duration storage. On the other, we see a capital-intensive manufacturer that still needs to prove it can scale profita...
lersan8910/iStock via Getty Images Investment Thesis Eos Energy ( EOSE ) is one of those rare stocks where the story and the numbers are actually colliding in real-time. On one hand, we’re talking about a company at the nexus of US energy security, AI-driven power demand, and long-duration storage. On the other, we see a capital-intensive manufacturer that still needs to prove it can scale profitably. The stock is down 14% or so since my last coverage and has spent the last several months trading in a wide $11-$18 range. When a stock consolidates like this after a big move, it’s often a sign of indecision, not resolution. The next earnings call isn’t about beating a revenue model; it’s about proving the transition from vision to execution is indeed real. And if they can prove that out, then this is the catalyst that finally breaks the range to the upside. The Scale-Up Test: Technology Promise Meets Manufacturing Math Eos is not trying to be a lithium-ion leader. Instead, their zinc-based Znyth chemistry and Z3 modules were designed to deliver 4 to 16-plus hour duration, targeting grid resilience, smoothing of intermittent renewables, and increasingly, AI-driven data center needs. The Indensity announcement in January changed the product discussion from a density perspective to a footprint perspective, with a promise of delivering up to 1 GWh per acre through vertically stacked modular cores. That’s a big deal for urban environments and space-constrained locations, particularly when safety and fire concerns become a site-permitting issue. However, the real pivot is not chemistry but architecture. Intensity to me suggests a pivot from selling battery containers to selling site-optimized energy systems for high-intensity applications. That’s a nice fit for the emerging AI-driven data center market, where hyperscale and edge data centers need a reliable long-duration backup solution. In fact, management has indicated that data centers represent 20-30% of the commercial ...
FILE PHOTO: Bull and bear symbols for successful and bad trading are seen in front of the German stock exchange (Deutsche Boerse) in Frankfurt, Germany, February 12, 2019. Kai Pfaffenbach | Reuters European shares look set to open in mixed territory on Friday, after AI fears triggered another sell-off on Wall Street overnight. Futures tied to the pan-European Stoxx 50 were 0.1% lower just before 7...
FILE PHOTO: Bull and bear symbols for successful and bad trading are seen in front of the German stock exchange (Deutsche Boerse) in Frankfurt, Germany, February 12, 2019. Kai Pfaffenbach | Reuters European shares look set to open in mixed territory on Friday, after AI fears triggered another sell-off on Wall Street overnight. Futures tied to the pan-European Stoxx 50 were 0.1% lower just before 7 a.m. in London (2 a.m. ET), with those tied to the French CAC 40 down 0.2%. German DAX futures were marginally lower, while those tied to London's FTSE 100 were 0.1% higher. New York's major averages all dropped on Thursday, as AI jitters rippled through the market again – hitting real estate, trucking and software stocks particularly hard. The "Magnificent 7" tech stocks each closed in negative territory. Investors are also digesting another busy week of corporate earnings. In Europe, Friday will be a quieter day on the earnings front, with French aerospace firm Safran and British lender NatWest among those reporting their finances. Global investors are also awaiting U.S. inflation data, which will be published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics at 8:30 a.m. ET. Metal markets were subdued on Friday morning, after the Financial Times reported U.S. President Donald Trump had plans to scale back tariffs on steel and aluminum. Aluminum futures in London and the U.S. were 1.2% and 0.6% lower, respectively, while front-month steel futures were down 0.1%. Elsewhere, international officials are gathering in Munich, Germany, for the Munich Security Conference, which runs through Sunday.