Story of the Day:
Copperbelt Energy Plc has signaled to the market that it expects to record lower earnings for the financial year 2019 due to unpaid receivables from one of its largest mining customers, according to a statement from the company. Read more
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Zambian president Edgar Lungu’s government has hired Lazard to advise on restructuring the cash-strapped southern African nation’s $11bn foreign debts that have threatened to become Africa’s first sovereign default during the coronavirus pandemic. The investment bank was hired on a $5m contract to advise on “liability management” of the country’s debt after a tender process, the Zambian ministry of finance said on Wednesday. Read more: Financial Times
Zambia’s corn production expanded by about 70% this year after good rains followed a historic drought in the previous season, making agriculture the one economic sector that might grow in 2020. Read more: Bloomberg
Commerce Trade and Industry Minister Christopher Yaluma says government would consider temporary suspension of VAT on locally produced edible oil after consultation. Mr Yaluma said government is working to curb smuggling of edible oil into the country to allow the Manufacturering sector to compete favourably. Read more: ZNBC
To resuscitate economies and improve competitiveness, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) has called on member states to develop road maps and action plans prioritising investments and channelling scarce resources to identified economic sectors. Read more: Zambia Daily Mail
International Business and Finance
The Big Tech superstocks known as FAANG aren’t just surviving the coronavirus crisis. They’re thriving. At a time of mass unemployment, mounting bankruptcies and a historic collapse in GDP, these mega companies are powering a V-shaped recovery on Wall Street. Read more: CNN
Nearly 13,000 Boeing workers, mostly in the US, are set to lose their jobs in the coming weeks, as cuts at the American aerospace giant take effect. Read more: BBC News
South Korea’s central bank lowered its policy rate to an all-time low of 0.5% to soften the pandemic’s shock to the country’s trade-dependent economy, which it says may shrink for the first time in 22 years. The Bank of Korea’s rate cut on Thursday came about two months after it executed its first emergency rate cut since 2008 to bring the policy rate to 0.75%. Read more: Market Watch
In the past week, companies including Apple, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Amazon have started to tell employees when they can expect to return to work in the coming year. Several of the tech giants have plans to reopen offices this summer as shelter-in-place orders are lifted, but encouraged most employees to keep working from home for much longer. Read more: Business Insider
Kenya’s central bank kept its benchmark lending rate at 7.0% on Wednesday, as expected, judging that its current accommodative stance remained appropriate, the Monetary Policy Committee said in a statement. Read more: Reuters
Namibia’s economy is seen contracting by 6.6% in 2020 and by 1.1% next year, as the Covid-19 pandemic wreaks economies globally, finance minister Ipumbu Shiimi said on Wednesday. Read more: Reuters
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In 1 trade recorded yesterday, 4,900 shares were transacted yielding a market turnover of K4,851. A share price loss of K0.01 was recorded in Copperbelt Energy Corporation. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) closed at 4,074.52 points, 0.09% down from its previous close of 4,078.25 points. The market closed on a capitalization of K56,555,393,780 including Shoprite Holdings and K22,316,187,800 excluding Shoprite Holdings.
Chart of the Day: