Ethiopia opens 600-tonne precious metals refinery as it targets Africa’s gold-processing business - Business Insider Africa

(Kitco NewsWire) - Gold and silver prices are sharply higher in late U. S. trading Thursday, as falling Treasury yields, a weaker U. S. dollar and renewed safe-haven demand helped precious metals recover from Wednesday's inflation-driven selloff. A stronger-than-expected U. S. producer inflation report failed to reverse the rally in government bonds, with concerns over heavily indebted artificial intelligence companies drawing capital into Treasuries. At the time of writing, spot gold was trading near $4,168.70 an ounce, up $64.20, or 1.56%, while spot silver was trading near $57.310, up $1.800, or 3.24%. North American equities closed higher after recovering from sharp early losses, as falling Treasury yields and strength outside the technology sector offset continuing concerns about AI infrastructure spending. The S&P 500 advanced 0.3%, recovering from an early decline of approximately 0.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.1%, supported by health care, retail and other defensive shares. The Nasdaq Composite finished 0.1% higher after reversing an intraday loss of approximately 1.4%.

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (ILO News) – The International Labour Organization (ILO), in partnership with FC Africa Development and with support from the Government of the Netherlands through the PROSPECTS partnership, has launched a new phase of the Integrated Business Plan Competition (BPC) in three regions of Ethiopia. The initiative will be implemented in the Somali, Benishangul-Gumuz and Amhara regions, reaching refugees and host community members in Jigjiga, Kebribeyah, Assosa and Dabat refugee operations. Participants will receive entrepreneurship training, business plan development support, coaching, mentoring, financial education and as well as support to access finance. The programme will also help participants formalize and license their businesses and access skills development services. At the launch, Khumbula Ndaba, ILO Country Director for Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan, said the competition would help translate economic inclusion into employment and entrepreneurship opportunities for young people. “This Business Plan Competition further strengthens the ILO's efforts to create decent jobs for young people,” he said.