Bloomberg FirstRand Ltd’s First National Bank (FNB) and a startup financial-technology company in South Africa are partnering to connect informal traders in townships with fast-moving consumer-goods companies. FNB is seeking to tap into a market that it estimates could consist of as many as 1 million enterprises that have largely been ignored and falls into the “unseen economy,” the Johannesburg-based ...

Bloomberg Shoppers will spend an estimated $7.8 billion on Cyber Monday — a record — boosting a strong holiday shopping season. And Wall Street will likely shrug it off. Even a blockbuster holiday won’t divert the market’s attention from the rising interest rates that could hurt car and home sales next year and the escalating trade war between the US ...

Bloomberg A winter storm moving across the Central Plains towards the Great Lakes disrupted air travel in Chicago and other cities on the busiest travel day of the year. The storm has blizzard-like conditions and is bringing gusty winds and 6 to 10 inches of snow that will stretch from Kansas City to Chicago, said Bob Oravec, a lead forecaster ...