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Meta defies gravity, open web is moribund versus Q1 2026 benchmarks

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WARC
  • Google Search surges past expectations with ad growth 5.4 percentage points above forecast
  • Meta overperformed with ad revenue of $55.0bn against a projected $54.1bn – 2.3pp ahead of WARC’s forecast
  • Amazon’s advertising services revenue of $17.2bn was in line with first quarter expectations
  • YouTube’s $72m ad revenue shortfall reveals engagement-to-revenue conversion gap

WARC releases latest Earnings Debrief comparing Big Tech’s ad revenue performance against WARC Media’s quarterly global ad spend forecast data

01 May 2026 – The first quarter of 2026 delivered a useful reminder that not all online advertising growth is created equal. Meta outpaced WARC Media’s forecast, while Amazon held steady, and YouTube continued to struggle even as Alphabet’s wider advertising machine powered ahead.

This is according to analysis by WARC Media in its latest Earning Debrief, an advertising revenue performance analysis of Big Tech compared against WARC Media’s quarterly global ad spend forecast data, to provide a current round-up of their ad spend.

Benchmarking against WARC Media’s ad spend projections – derived from a proprietary neural network of over two million data points – Meta’s reported growth beat expectations by 2.3 percentage points (pp) during the opening quarter of 2026. Google Search outperformed by 5.4pp, and Amazon’s ad business came in broadly level (-0.4pp). YouTube, however, once again fell short of projections (-1.9pp), while Google’s Display Network recorded a sharper-than-expected decline (-1.6pp).

James McDonald, Director of Data, Intelligence & Forecasting at WARC, said “With this earnings cycle closely tracking our forecasts, WARC’s outlook for the year remains broadly unchanged for the major online platforms. The next phase of growth is likely to favour those that can turn AI from a fashionable noun into a measurable commercial advantage. As ever in advertising, rhetoric is plentiful; revenue is indelible.”

Meta defies gravity

Meta was an overperformer this quarter, with ad revenue of $55.0bn against a forecast of $54.1bn – 2.3pp ahead of WARC’s benchmark. Better targeting, more automated buying and faster optimisation appear to be helping Meta convert its AI infrastructure into measurable performance, rather than merely an expensive slide in an investor deck.

Management commentary reinforces this interpretation. CFO Susan Li reported that ranking improvements on Instagram drove a 10% lift in time spent with Reels in Q1, while Mark Zuckerberg pointed to strong trends across Meta’s apps and all-time high engagement around video content.

The results suggest Meta is increasingly effective at capturing user attention, selling it, monetising it, and commanding premium rates in the process.

Amazon’s full-funnel evolution

Amazon’s advertising services revenue of $17.2bn was effectively in line with first quarter expectations. The world’s largest advertiser is working to be “the best place for brands of all sizes to grow their businesses” and emphasised its full-funnel credentials during its earnings call.

Beyond the messaging, Amazon’s advertising business continues to benefit from the attibutes marketers most value: purchase intent, closed-loop measurement and inventory that sits tantilisingly close to the transaction.

The direction of travel, therefore, remains favourable for Amazon. Retail media continues to gain market share by offering advertisers the alluring prospect of linking spend to sales with minimal attribution complexity, while streaming inventory and AI-assisted creative tools broaden Amazon’s reach beyond the lower funnel. This bodes well for future earnings cycles.

Alphabet’s mixed quarter

Google was the standout performer during the quarter, with ad revenue up 19.1% to $60.4bn, a marked 5.4pp above the benchmark of +13.7%. Clearly traditional paid search remains resilient, and Alphabet is arguing with some confidence that AI is improving engagement rather than cannibalising it.

Indeed, CEO Sundar Pichai heralded that AI is “illuminating every aspect of the business” and that products such as AI Overviews and AI Mode are now bringing users back to search more often. While progress is evident, the quarter revealed uneven performance across Alphabet’s advertising portfolio, with AI-driven gains not distributed equally among all business units.

YouTube’s reported ad revenue of approximately $9.98bn came in around $72m below the forecast value of $10.05bn, suggesting that strong engagement is still not converting into revenue quite as elegantly as executives would prefer. Short-form video continues to attract attention at scale, but monetisation still appears to lag the consumption curve: this is now the second consecutive quarter in which YouTube has fallen short of WARC’s forecast expectations, though the gap was far wider last quarter.

Google’s Display Network continues to decline in step with a moribund open web. Here, ad revenue dipped 3.9% compared to a forecast fall of 2.3% – this suggests Alphabet’s AI ambitions may be creating trade-offs in certain areas potentially at the expense of others.

Final word

Given the combined scale of these three players – accounting for 58% of all ad investment globally excluding China – they provide a useful yardstick for the industry at large.

The pace of growth at Amazon by far exceeds the WARC Media forecast for Q1 2026 ad spend on retail media globally (+12.3%); ditto Meta in relation to WARC’s benchmark for social media in the quarter (+20.3%). And that without looking at forecasts for slower-growth channels like total TV (+1.2%), or the market as a whole (+11.1%).

Taken together, the quarter suggests that advertisers are continuing to reward platforms that combine scale, first-party data and increasingly competent automation.

Meta is showing what happens when AI improves both engagement and monetisation simultaneously, Amazon is extending retail media into something closer to a full-spectrum ad business, and Alphabet is proving that search remains formidable even as video and display raise less cheerful questions.

 

Energy

Naledi Mining Services Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Joins African Mining Week (AMW) 2026 Amid Technical, Operational Expansion

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Etu Energias

Bokang D. Thitoyamore is expected to highlight the company’s role in developing Botswana’s local mining talent amid a national drive to strengthen diversification

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, September 14, 2026/APO Group/ –Bokang D. Thitoyamore, CEO of Naledi Mining Services Company, has been confirmed as a speaker at the upcoming African Mining Week (AMW) 2026 conference, taking place from October 14-16 in Cape Town.

Thitoyamore will feature in the Strengthening Local Content in Africa’s Mining Supply Chain panel, exploring how mining companies can build strong partnerships with local businesses and integrate local content into operations. For Naledi Mining Services, AMW 2026 provides an ideal platform to highlight the company’s efforts to advance Botswana’s national agenda of expanding local participation, enhancing technical capacity and diversifying the economy beyond diamonds.

 




  

His participation comes as Botswana advances policy that aims to accelerate mining development and local content integration. Incoming Mines and Minerals Regulations are at the forefront of this effort, mandating robust local participation and in-country beneficiation. With exploration expanding across approximately 70% of the country’s unexplored territory, new mine developments will demand extensive engineering capacity, mine development expertise, equipment management and project delivery capabilities.

To meet this demand, Naledi Mining Services is scaling its training initiatives through the Naledi Mining Talent Bank, designed to equip Botswana’s next-generation of mining workers and entrepreneurs. The company is also positioning itself to export skilled labor regionally. In July 2026, Naledi signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Botswana’s Ministry of Labor and Home Affairs, facilitating skills transfer across the mining sector.

Beyond capacity building, Naledi is expanding its service capabilities as an EPC provider for large-scale mining operations across Southern Africa. A wholly owned subsidiary of Debswana Diamond Company, Naledi’s flagship asset is the Jwaneng Cut 9 Project – Botswana’s largest mining contract – spanning mine development, production, engineering, and equipment maintenance.

At AMW 2026, Thitoyamore is expected to share insights into how the company plans to expand both its operations and technical capabilities. Convening stakeholders from across the entire mining value chain, the event is held under the theme Mining the Future: Unearthing Africa’s Full Mineral Value.

Visit www.African-MiningWeek.com for more information.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Energy Capital & Power.

 




 

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African Energy Week Remains a Forum for Investment, Dialogue and Continental Growth

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African Energy Chamber

With 600 million Africans lacking electricity and an annual energy funding gap reaching $95 billion, the African Energy Chamber urges leaders to keep African Energy Week 2026 focused intra-continental trade and cross-border movement

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, September 14, 2026/APO Group/ –With roughly 600 million Africans still lacking access to electricity and an annual sector financing gap reaching $95 billion, Africa cannot afford to let political friction disrupt its commercial energy agenda. Ahead of African Energy Week (AEW) 2026 in Cape Town, the African Energy Chamber (https://EnergyChamber.org/) is calling on continental leaders to safeguard cross-border investment, streamline visa-free travel while prioritizing economic sovereignty over diplomatic division.

 




  

AEW stands today as the largest and Africa’s most consequential platforms for investment, financing, and practical cooperation in energy. Taking place in Cape Town on October 12 to 16, 2026, the gathering is expected to bring together more than 10,000 delegates from over 100 countries. That scale alone makes clear this is not a narrow industry meeting; it is a continental convening with global reach.

We recognize the seriousness of the current diplomatic tensions between Nigeria and South Africa and we condemn any violence or mistreatment of African migrants. But this moment must not be allowed to shut the door on dialogue, investment and practical cooperation across the continent.

Energy is one of the few sectors capable of bringing Africans together around shared growth, jobs, industrial development and regional integration. It must not be treated as collateral damage in a broader political dispute. The commercial ties between Nigeria and South Africa are too important, and the broader network of African energy relationships is too valuable, to be weakened by the heat of the moment.

AEW is organized by the African Energy Chamber in partnership with Afreximbank and the African Petroleum Producers Organization, institutions that have worked with determination to advance African energy sovereignty and African-led solutions to African challenges. The African Energy Chamber is not merely hosting a conference; it is leading a movement for African ownership, African industry and African progress.

This movement is needed because the continent still faces a hard and unforgiving truth. According to the International Energy Agency, roughly 600 million Africans still lack access to electricity and about 900 million remain without access to clean cooking. This is not a statistic to be filed away and forgotten. It is a development emergency that affects children studying by candlelight, mothers cooking over dangerous fuels, hospitals struggling with power reliability and businesses forced to operate beneath the weight of inadequate infrastructure.

Africa also continues to face a major energy financing gap, with recent reporting placing the annual shortfall at between $67.5 billion and $95 billion. If Africa is to power its people, industrialize its economies and secure its future, then Africans must fight to fix it with capital, with policy discipline, and with the courage to back the projects that will deliver real value on African soil.

There is value in staying the course, even when the road is rough

The question before the continent is plain enough: will we embrace innovation, growth, and prosperity, or will we slide backward into a posture that denies facts and delays demand? Africa does not need less energy. Africa needs more energy, more generation, more infrastructure, more refining, more gas and more investment to meet the needs of its people and economies. That is why the call for more investment in exploration remains so urgent. DRILL BABY DRILL.

African Energy Week exists to meet that urgency. It brings governments, operators, financiers and service companies into one room to unlock capital and move projects from paper to production. Previously, AEW has demonstrated that this platform is not about rhetoric; it is about results, partnerships and deal-making that move African energy forward.

The 2026 gathering reflects that growing confidence. Delegations and participation are expected from across Africa and beyond, including countries in every major region of the global energy market.  That breadth matters, because Africa’s energy future is not a local matter alone; it is a continental priority with global significance.

Africa must also do more to trade with itself. Intra-African trade remains far too low, representing only about 15 to 18 percent of the continent’s total trade in recent years, compared with far higher levels in Asia and Europe. The African Continental Free Trade Area offers a path toward stronger integration, and recent analysis suggests it could significantly expand trade if African states remove the barriers that still stand in the way. But trade cannot flourish in a continent where movement remains too difficult and markets remain too fragmented.

That is why African leaders must move with urgency to fix visa-free travel. If Africa is serious about integration, then Africans must be able to do business in Africa, study in Africa, work in Africa and build in Africa without being trapped by unnecessary border friction. Free movement is not a luxury. It is infrastructure for prosperity.

This moment should also be used to expand opportunity for young Africans, especially in energy, engineering, and STEM. Africa’s future will be written by engineers, geoscientists, technicians, coders, project managers, data analysts, and entrepreneurs who can turn natural resources into schools, roads, factories, industrial parks, and jobs. If the continent is serious about prosperity, then it must give African entrepreneurs the tools they need to succeed access to capital, fairer taxation, streamlined regulation, and an environment that rewards initiative rather than suffocates it.

Cape Town remains a safe and welcoming host city for AEW, and the conference should be embraced as a practical meeting ground for the continent’s energy leaders. The goal is simple: keep business moving, keep investment flowing and keep Africa focused on its own development agenda.

“Sometimes leadership requires us not to run from discomfort, but to walk through it with our heads held high and our purpose intact. There is value in staying the course, even when the road is rough. We must move through this pain honestly, soberly, and together, then regroup with clearer minds and steadier hands. What we must avoid now are rushed choices, emotional overcorrections, and decisions we may regret long after tempers have cooled,” says NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber

This is a call for unity, discipline and restraint. It is also a reminder that African leadership must be measured not by how quickly it retreats from difficulty, but by how faithfully it walks through it. The African Energy Chamber welcomes this new opportunity to continue pushing to unify the continent through trade, investment, energy cooperation, and shared purpose.

Africa does not build prosperity by closing doors. It builds prosperity by keeping them open to capital, commerce, and collaboration. Energy is business. Energy is development. Energy is sovereignty. And it should never be allowed to become the casualty of political division.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Energy Chamber.

 




 

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World’s largest Electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer Yadea partners with leading energy and mobility player Spiro to accelerate electric mobility across Africa

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Electric vehicle

The partnership comes as Spiro accelerates its next phase of growth and expansion across Africa following its latest $270 million funding round, which included investment from NewTrails Capital, a Chinese fund

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, September 14, 2026/APO Group/ —

  • This strategic partnership will combine Yadea’s global leadership in electric vehicle manufacturing, technology and product development with Spiro’s electric mobility ecosystem, battery-swapping infrastructure and market presence.
  •  The companies commit to scaling a commercially sustainable and technologically integrated electric mobility ecosystem that will serve millions of riders, businesses and fleet operators across Africa, through three main areas of collaboration.

Spiro (www.Spironet.com), Africa’s leading electric mobility company, has signed a partnership with Yadea, the world’s leading manufacturer of electric two-wheelers, to scale accessible and sustainable electric transport across Africa.

 




 
 

Our strategic partnership with Yadea is a major endorsement of our execution to date

The strategic partnership combines Yadea’s global manufacturing and R&D capabilities with Spiro’s operational network and battery-swapping ecosystem across seven countries. Together, the companies aim to build a scalable, commercially sustainable EV framework serving millions of commercial fleet operators, delivery services, logistics providers, and daily commuters in Africa’s fastest-growing mobility markets.

Under the agreement, Yadea will supply electric two-wheelers and related EV products tailored to Spiro’s expanding regional markets, while Spiro will integrate the vehicles into its proprietary battery-swapping and energy infrastructure. The companies will also co-develop customized two-wheeler platforms engineered specifically for local road conditions and commercial utility across Africa.

This partnership deepens the China-Africa connection, pairing Yadea’s manufacturing scale with Spiro’s battery-swapping network and unique knowledge of African market dynamics to accelerate the continent’s transition to affordable electric transport.

“When we launched Spiro, our mission was to lay the energy and mobility foundation for Africa’s green transition. Our strategic partnership with Yadea is a major endorsement of our execution to date and opens fantastic opportunities to jointly pioneer the next era of electric mobility in emerging markets”, stated Gagan Gupta, Founder of Spiro and Chairman of Equitane.

Anant Badjatya, CEO of Spiro, said: “Africa’s shift to electric mobility is accelerating and this partnership helps us meet that demand at scale. By bringing together Yadea’s manufacturing strength with Spiro’s electric mobility ecosystem and operating experience across Africa, we are compressing the timeline to clean transport — helping thousands more riders switch to affordable EVs faster and multiplying our climate impact across the continent.”

Wang Jiazhong, Senior Vice President of Yadea Technology Group, stated: “Africa represents a massive frontier for zero-emission transport. Our mission to reduce carbon emissions has reached a powerful milestone through this partnership with Spiro. Together, we are combining global innovation with local infrastructure to deliver scalable and sustainable mobility solutions that serve millions of riders and transform Africa’s urban transit.”

Founded in China, Yadea is the world’s leading manufacturer of electric two-wheelers, with more than 100 million vehicles sold worldwide in over 100 countries and 10 exclusive production facilities globally. A strong innovator with more than 2,000 patents registered in electric vehicle technology, Yadea covers a comprehensive range of urban micro-mobility solutions.

The partnership comes as Spiro accelerates its next phase of growth and expansion across Africa following its latest $270 million funding round, which included investment from NewTrails Capital, a Chinese fund. The company is building an integrated electric mobility ecosystem combining electric motorcycles with an extensive battery-swapping network, enabling riders to exchange depleted batteries for fully charged ones in minutes.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Spiro.

 

 




 

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