Story of the Day:
The Lusaka Securities Exchange all Share index (LASI) has marginally lost 0.23% of its value since the beginning of this year, according to a financial analysis conducted at the close of week 7. Read more
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The Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority (ZICTA) has hinted at the possibility of accommodating a fifth operator within the country’s telecommunications market in a bid to increase competition. ZICTA director general Patrick Mutimunshi said a fifth operator could compete with MTN Zambia, Airtel Zambia, Zamtel as well as UZI Zambia, which is yet to begin operations. Read more: IT Web Africa
The Patriotic Front in North Western province has challenged ZESCO in the region to supply power to the people especially in townships. Read more: ZNBC
Turkey and Zambia’s trade volumes increased to US$24 million in 2019 from US$350,000 in 2003 following bilateral agreements signed between the two governments. Turkey’s Minister of Family, Labour and Social Services Zehra Zümrüt said trade between the two countries is expected to increase as Turkish investors are investing in various sectors in Zambia. Read more: Zambia Daily Mail
The Chinese contractor building the Kafulafuta dam has written to its subcontractors to say work has halted because of delayed payments from the government. Read more: Lusaka Times
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Inward Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and the effects it has on the host country has been the subject of debate over the years, producing a wide range of empirical results in academic literature with little convergence whereas policymakers generally accept that inward Forward Direct Investment is valuable to their economy. Read more
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Ratings agency Moody’s has cut its 2020 growth forecast for South Africa to 0.7% from a September forecast of 1.5%, saying the economy remains stuck in low gear due to lacklustre domestic private-sector demand. Read more: Al Jazeera
Zimbabwe’s central bank on Monday left its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 35%, citing moderating inflation as the regulator looked to introduce more local currency and limit the flood of foreign tender. Read more: Reuters
HSBC on Tuesday reported pre-tax profit that missed analysts’ expectations after the bank took a goodwill impairment relating to its European investment banking and commercial banking businesses. The bank, Europe’s largest by assets, recorded a 32.9% fall in pre-tax profit for 2019 to $13.35 billion, much lower than Refinitiv forecast of $19.83 billion. Read more: CNBC
China said on Tuesday it would accept applications for new tariff exemptions for 696 products imported from the United States including pork, beef, soybeans, liquefied natural gas and crude oil. Read more: CNBC
Apple has warned that disruption in China from the coronavirus will mean revenues falling short of forecasts. The tech giant said production and sales were affected, and that “worldwide iPhone supply will be temporarily constrained”. Read more: BBC News
Economists have warned Japan is on course for a technical recession, as the impact of the coronavirus outbreak threatens to compound a dire final quarter of 2019 that saw the economy shrink at an annualised rate of 6.3 per cent. Read more: Financial Times
Jeff Bezos is throwing his weight — and wealth — behind the fight against climate change months after Amazon employees publicly pressured him and the company to do more to address the issue. The Amazon CEO on Monday announced a new fund to back scientists, activists and organizations working to mitigate the impact of climate change. Bezos will commit $10 billion “to start,” he said in an Instagram post. Read more: CNN
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In 23 trades recorded yesterday, 9,788 shares were transacted yielding a market turnover of K21,929. There was a share price gain of K0.01 recorded in Zanaco, and share prices losses of K0.02 and K0.01 recorded in AEL Zambia and Copperbelt Energy Corporation respectively. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) closed at 4,254.31 points, 0.01% down from its previous close of 4,254.82 points. The market closed on a capitalization of K57,336,443,980 including Shoprite Holdings and K23,097,238,000 excluding Shoprite Holdings.
Chart of the Day: