Story of the Day:
Reinsurance company, Prima Re. has announced the appointment of two new board members from IDC, according to an issued statement. Read more
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The Zambian government’s lack of engagement has made providing near-term debt relief impossible, a large Eurobond creditor group said, adding it may consider other options with the country looking on track for an acrimonious debt restructuring. Read more: Reuters
Zambia’s finance ministry said on Monday it had reached an agreement with China’s Exim Bank to suspend interest and principal payments worth $110 million which had been due between May 1 and December 31 of 2020. Read more: Reuters
Zambia’s Finance Minister Bwalya Ng’andu said creditors were at least partly to blame for the country defaulting on one of its Eurobonds last week, while a group of bondholders said the missed payment risked setting a more adversarial backdrop for debt negotiations. Read more: Bloomberg
Zambia expects to conclude talks over buying Glencore Plc’s stake in Mopani copper mines Plc within a month, according to Barnaby Mulenga, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Mines. Read more: Mining
Zambia’s central bank will hold its first rate decision meeting, post default will seek to manage a potential currency rout exacerbated by general asset sell-off pressure as investors fret over deepening fiscal fragilities. Read more: The Business Telegraph
Government has implored the private sector to consider investing in industries that are able to produce raw inputs used in the manufacturing industry. Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry Permanent Secretary Mushuma Mulenga said the manufacturing sector in its current set-up is heavily dependent on imports. Read more: Zambia Daily Mail
International Business and Finance
Global share prices have surged following news of a second breakthrough coronavirus vaccine, following last week’s positive results from Pfizer. In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a new high, after jumping about 1.6%. The wider S&P 500 increased almost 1.2% from Friday’s record and the Nasdaq gained 0.8%. Earlier, the UK’s FTSE 100 share index closed about 1.6% higher, while the main market in Paris rose 1.7% and in Germany shares gained 0.5%. Read more: BBC News
Even as the pandemic that wrecked its business flares up again, Airbnb is poised to make its public market debut this year. The company filed its long-awaited IPO paperwork Monday, revealing that it turned a profit of $219 million in the third quarter of this year, on $1.34 billion in revenue. Read more: CNN
S&P Global announced on Monday that Tesla will join the S&P 500 effective prior to trading on Monday, Dec. 21. Upon entry, Tesla is already one of the S&P 500′s 10 most valuable companies based on Monday’s closing prices. Shares of Tesla spiked more than 9% on the news. Read more: CNBC
More than 30% of the working population in South Africa is now unemployed, the National Statistics Agency said Thursday. A record since 2008 and an increase largely attributed to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Read more: Africa News
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In 16 trades recorded yesterday, 23,157 shares were transacted yielding a market turnover of K21,082. A share price gain was recorded in Lafarge of K0.38, and in Copperbelt Energy Corporation of K0.03. Trading activity was also recorded in Real Estate Investments Zambia, Zambia Breweries and CEC Africa on the quoted tier. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) closed at 3,883.92 points, 0.74% up from its previous close of 3,855.33 points. The market closed on a capitalization of K57,384,141,057 including Shoprite Holdings and K23,144,935,077 excluding Shoprite Holdings.
Chart of the Day: