Story of the Day:
ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) is celebrating 20 years of its dual qualification with Oxford Brookes University, which enables students to gain a globally recognized BSc (Hons) Applied Accounting degree and the ACCA qualification together. Read more
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Standard Chartered Bank Zambia Limited has announced the closure of eight branches across the country in a move designed to fully maximise its digital platforms. But Finance Minister Dr Bwalya Ng’andu says the Bank of Zambia (BoZ) has questioned the bank’s decision to close the branches in the country. Read more: News Diggers
In its latest edition published on November 20, 2020, the EIU, a UK based specialist publisher serving companies, has said that it foresees China demanding Zambia’s mineral assets in exchange for the huge debt the southern African country owes. Read more: Lusaka Times
Konkola Copper Mine (KCM) will appeal to the Supreme Court the decision to stay liquidation proceedings, Provisional Liquidator Milingo Lungu has said. This follows the Court of Appeal’s order that Liquidation proceedings be stayed to allow the parties to proceed to arbitration. Read more: Lusaka Times
Zambia’s Finance Minister bemoaned challenges in the insurance industry citing weakness in balance sheet and liquidity positions. Dr. Bwalya Ng’andu flagged the current uneven insurance brokerage skews revealed by 2 firms accounting for 80% of business in an industry comprised of 35 companies. Read more: The Business Telegraph
Bank of Zambia continues to see appetite for one year government securities paying 24.5% in the 24th T-bill of the year. The Bank of Zambia was able to sell paper worth K1.26billion a few Kwachas shy of what was on offer, across the curve. Read more: The Business Telegraph
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On Friday, JPMorgan became the first Wall Street bank to warn that GDP will turn negative by early next year as Americans wait for vaccines to get distributed. “This winter will be grim,” JPMorgan economists wrote in a client note, “and we believe the economy will contract again” in the first quarter. Read more: CNN
Nigeria, Africa’s biggest economy, entered recession for the second time in four years, after a contraction in its gross domestic product for a second consecutive quarter. The GDP of Nigeria, an oil-producing country, contracted by 3.62% in the third quarter of 2020, after having already declined by 6% in the previous quarter, the Bureau of Statistics said Saturday. Read more: Africa News
The African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) has been rescheduled to begin operations in January 2021. The initial plan was for the AfCTA to start on July 1, 2020. But it was delayed because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Media reports suggest that negotiations resumed this week between countries to address the issues on rules of origin and market access. Read more: Business Insider
U.K. government borrowing soared in October as the UK continued to support the economy during the pandemic. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said borrowing hit £22.3bn last month, the highest October figure since monthly records began in 1993. Read more: BBC News
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In 27 trades recorded yesterday, 489,853 shares were transacted yielding a market turnover of K323,100. Trading activity was recorded in Copperbelt Energy Corporation, ZCCM and CEC Africa on the quoted tier. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) maintained its close at 3,898.56 points, as there were no share price movements. The market closed on a capitalization of K57,447,993,287 including Shoprite Holdings and K23,208,787,307 excluding Shoprite Holdings.
Chart of the Day: