Flash Briefing; Sudan, Algeria celebrate end of dictators; Aspen, Investec, Absa gain; SpaceX seeks $500m; Goldman profits reverse.

Last week’s ousting of Sudan’s supposed president for life, 75 year old Omar al-Bashir, is ushering in a raft of new democratic freedoms. Despite the controversy that surrounds his erratic actions at electric car maker Tesla, South African born and raised entrepreneur Elon Musk still possesses plenty of money pulling power. After reporting a 21% drop in its latest quarterly profit, the share price of Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs lost 3% yesterday, interrupting its gain of one fifth so far this year. The Rand’s good recent run ended yesterday with the currency losing 7.5c against the US dollar to trade slightly above R14 to the greenback.