Story of the Day:
At a time when the rest of the world is re-thinking its approach to commercial agriculture, Africa has a clear opportunity to refresh its approach to the sector and become an emerging force. Big shifts are already happening in food production, land and water use, and the integration of agri-tech and product tracing. Read more
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Zambia looks set to move closer to being Africa’s first sovereign default since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, with bondholders expected to reject a request to put off payments for six months. A key vote Tuesday by holders of Zambia’s $3 billion of Eurobonds will also be keenly watched by other poor nations considering how to involve commercial creditors in debt-relief talks. Read more: Bloomberg
The LOLC Group commenced its operations in Zambia recently with the official launch of its inaugural branch located in Lusaka. The company which will operate as LOLC Finance Zambia Limited, is a deposit-taking non-banking financial institution and will provide finance products such as home loans, motor vehicle finance, business loans, and consumer loans, among other products, thus helping to narrow the access to financial services gap in Zambia. Read more: MSN
First National Bank – FNB Zambia has launched Tap to Pay-enabled Contactless Debit Cards onto the Zambian market in line with its digitization journey. The new payment solution will make all purchases made via a Tap to Pay-enabled Point-of-Sale (POS) simpler and safer for its customers. Read more: Zambian Business Times
Mines and Minerals Development Minister Richard Musukwa has implored ZCCM-IH to invest in machinery to grow the Gold and gemstone mining sector. Mr. Musukwa says with proper machinery in place the gold sector has the potential to create employment and help grow the economy. Read more: ZNBC
Zamtel has been awarded the Best Data Service Provider in Zambia at the 2020 Zambia E-commerce Awards held on Saturday. Zamtel beat off competition to emerge as the country’s most preferred data service producer for individual, retail and wholesale customers. The awards ceremony that was held virtually recognized Zamtel’s strong efforts in providing quality and consistent data services in Zambia. Read more: ZNBC
Sustainable Development Goals are taking shape faster than expected in attaining gender equality as 2030 draws nigh. One such example is Zambia, that has seen an acceleration in women landing top positions both in the C-suite and at board level. Local accounting, the Zambia Institute of Chartered Accountants – ZICA recorded its debut female President defying all odds. Read more: The Business Telegraph
International Business and Finance
Wall Street was on a wild ride Monday, with the Dow swinging between highs and lows before finishing sharply in the red after another futile attempt at getting a stimulus deal before the election failed. The Dow closed down 1.4%, or 411 points, having swung more than 570 points between its high and low points. The S&P 500 closed 1.6% lower.
The Nasdaq Composite ended 1.7% lower, its fifth straight down day. Read more: CNN
China’s benchmark lending rate is likely to remain steady for a sixth straight month at its October fixing on Tuesday, after the central bank left rates on its medium-term lending facility (MLF) loans unchanged last week, a Reuters survey showed. Read more: Reuters
The world’s largest wealth manager, UBS, reported a net income of $2.1 billion for the third quarter on Tuesday, up 99% from the same period last year. Analysts had forecast reported net income of $1.5 billion for the quarter, according to data from Refinitiv Eikon. Last year, the bank reported net income of $1.049 billion for the same period. Read more: CNBC
Bank of England (BoE) boss Andrew Bailey has said the UK faces “an unprecedented level of economic uncertainty.” Britain’s economy shrank by 20% in the three months to June as it battled with the coronavirus pandemic, the biggest fall of any large advanced economy. His remarks come as tighter coronavirus restrictions are imposed across the UK. Mr Bailey warned that there is significant risk of economic growth continuing to be lower than expected. Read more: BBC News
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On Friday, a total of 32,463 shares were transacted in 66 trades, yielding a market turnover of K92,293. Trading activity was recorded in AEL Zambia, Copperbelt Energy Corporation, Lafarge, Real Estate Investments Zambia, Standard Chartered Zambia, Zanaco, ZCCM and Zambia Sugar. The Index (LASI) closed at 3,806.88 points. The market closed on a capitalization of K55,874,137,545 including Shoprite Holdings and K21,634,931,565 excluding Shoprite Holdings.
Chart of the Day: