– Indonesia recorded a cumulative trade surplus of $10.61 billion from January to September 2026, driven mainly by strong non-oil and gas exports, Statistics Indonesia (BPS) said on Monday. Non-oil and gas trade generated a surplus of $34.21 billion, more

– Half of Africa’s 20 largest banks are building a multi-billion-shilling war chest to expand in Kenya, racing for a share of one of East Africa’s most profitable financial services markets. The lenders are injecting fresh capital into their Kenyan

– South Korea’s exports jumped 93.7% from a year earlier to a record $115.3 billion in October, driven largely by a sharp rise in semiconductor shipments. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources released the data on Sunday. Imports rose

– Kenya is banking on new coffee varieties to boost production, improve yields and help farmers cope with climate change as it targets annual output of 150,000 metric tonnes. Henry Kinyua, chairperson of the Coffee Board of Kenya, said researchers

– Global registrations of battery-electric vehicles rose 12% in the first nine months of 2026 to a record 11 million, driven by strong growth in Europe, according to a study by consultancy PwC. Europe accounted for 2.5 million electric cars,

– Oil prices rose on Wednesday, with Brent crude futures climbing $1.48, or 1.3%, to $115.36 a barrel by 01:40 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained $1.22, or 1.22%, to $101.12 a barrel. The increase reversed part of

– Microsoft said on Monday it is offering voluntary buyouts to a wide range of employees as it balances a costly artificial intelligence infrastructure build-out with capital efficiency. The new voluntary exit offer covers certain workers in the United States,

– South Korea posted the second-largest current account surplus among major economies in the second quarter, exceeding the combined surpluses of Germany and Japan. The country’s surplus reached $116.63 billion in the April-June period, according to central bank data reported

– Trade between Russia and Oman grew 22-fold in the first seven months of 2026 to reach $1.5 billion, Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu said. He gave the figures on Tuesday, October 20, during a meeting in Moscow with

– Japan recorded a trade deficit of 536.6 billion yen in September as imports grew faster than exports, preliminary data from the Ministry of Finance showed. Exports rose 16.7% from a year earlier to 10.9723 trillion yen. Imports climbed 18.9%