Story of the Day:
In the third week of February 2020 trading on the LuSE, eleven companies’ securities recorded trades. Trading activity was recorded in AEL Zambia, Airtel, CEC Zambia , Lafarge, PUMA, Real Estate Investments Zambia, Standard Chartered Bank, Zambia Breweries, Zanaco and Zambia Sugar. Read more
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Amidst an economic downturn spurred by spiralling debt levels, Zambia has stepped up tourism promotion with indications showing a 50-member delegation expected in the country to assess investment opportunities in the Southern African state. Read more: The Southern Times
One hundred international exhibitors and 3 hundred delegates are expected to attend the first ever import and export conference and Exhibition- to be hosted by Zambia in September this year. Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry Christopher Yaluma says the conference will provide a platform for Zambian businesses to open up new markets, partnerships and trade opportunities. Read more: ZNBC
Czech Ambassador to Zambia Radek Rubes says Zambia’s current economic reform evolution resonates with that of the Czech Republic. Speaking during a courtesy visit on Finance Minister Dr. Bwalya Ng’andu, Rubes extended the invitation to his country for a benchmarking and best practice exchange programme in management and control of public finances, debt management, taxation and customs management, fiscal management, and administration of public private partnership programmes. Read more: Zambian Business Times
Agriculture company Corteva Agriscience says Zambia is its chosen seed production hub for all of East, South and Central Africa, supplying seeds to Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda. Read more: Zambia Reports
The Centre for Trade Policy and Development (CTPD) has called on Government to consider reviewing the tobacco taxation framework by increasing taxes applicable to the commodity and nicotine products. Read more: Zambia Daily Mail
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VAT performance can be measured through different methods but most commonly a VAT Revenue Ratio (“VRR”) is used to provide a comparative measure of a country’s ability to effectively secure the potential tax base for VAT (OECD, 2018). Read more
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JPMorgan Chase is in talks with London regulators about launching a digital bank in the UK this year, a person familiar with the discussions told the Financial Times. Sky News reported earlier Saturday that America’s biggest bank was gearing up to launch a digital operation in the UK by the end of the year. Read more: Financial Times
Eight countries out of 14 COMESA member states have ratified the Tripartite Free Trade Agreement (TFTA). Chairperson of the Tripartite Task force Chileshe Kapwepwe says after five years of negotiations the Tripartite agreement is now ready for implementation as only Six countries are yet to ratify the agreement. Read more: ZNBC
Financial markets plunged again on Tuesday as investors continued to worry about the spread of the coronavirus. The Dow shed almost 900 points, falling more than 3% to close at 27,081. The S&P 500 also closed more than 3% lower, while the Nasdaq sank 2.8%, The declines followed drops overseas. In the UK, the FTSE 100 fell almost 2% to a 12-month low of 7,018, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 index fell 3.3%. Read more: BBC News
The Hong Kong government has announced a dramatic economic relief package worth $15.4 billion. Financial secretary Paul Chan said that all permanent residents in the city will receive $1,280 to boost local consumption and counter the fallout from the slumping economy. Read more: CNN
Investment banking revenue hasn’t been this weak since 2008. Pink slips are flying on Wall Street and at leading investment banks around the world as the industry grapples with shrinking revenue and profound change to their business models. Read more: CNN
The S&P 500 just wiped out about $1.737 trillion of its value during its two-day market sell-off, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices. Read more: CNBC
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There were no trades recorded yesterday. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) maintained its close at 4,250.58 points as there were no share price movements. The market closed on a capitalization of K57,320,193,974 including Shoprite Holdings and K23,080,987,994 excluding Shoprite Holdings.
Chart of the Day: