Story of the Day:
Amidst the turbulences of covid-19, British American Tobacco Zambia (BATZ) plc manages to sail through exceptionally with regard to operating profit but fails terribly to earn ‘tangible’ profit before taxes as the company falls into losses. During a period when most business have struggled and most succumbing to the business environment challenges, BAT plc performance has shown some form of resilience. Read more
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Zanaco Plc on March 30, sealed a landmark partnership with the German Development Cooperation (GIZ) under the Agriculture Finance Project (AFP) funded by the Germany Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), to provide tailor made financial services to more than 10,000 micro, small and medium scale farmers and 200 rural enterprises. Read more: The Business Telegraph
The Economics Association of Zambia has called on the private and public sectors to enhance productivity to grow the national income and wealth. In a statement, EAZ deputy national secretary Rita Mkandawire stated that her association has observed that some economic players were adjusting prices. Read more: Zambia Reports
Newly appointed Zambia Chamber of Mines – ZCM president Dr. Godwin Beene has said Zambia must regard capital flows into less endowed and even into more operationally challenging jurisdictions as lost investment. Read more: Zambian Business Times
Local Government Minister Charles Banda says Government on a monthly basis releases K97 million under the equalization fund to local authorities. Dr. Banda says the monies disbursed are meant to be shared among the local authorities so that 20% should be used for capital projects while 80% is for operations. Read more: ZNBC
International Business and Finance
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) will strengthen trade between Africa and Europe, according to Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo. He noted that AfCFTA would link all the 54 markets of Africa, covering 1.2 billion people, into a single market. Read more: CGTN
Chinese phone maker Xiaomi is wading into electric vehicles with a $10bn investment over ten years. The Chinese tech giant’s goal is to “offer quality smart electric vehicles,” it said on Tuesday. Xiaomi is the world’s third largest smartphone maker behind Apple and Samsung, according to data firm Canalys. Read more: BBC News
A new report from the World Economic Forum estimates that attaining global gender parity will take nearly 136 years, up from its previous estimate of almost 100 years. WEF measures parity in four ways: economic participation and opportunity, education, health and political empowerment. Data examined by the organization showed that the gap in political empowerment has widened significantly since its 2020 report, while economic participation has improved only slightly. Read more: CNN
Singapore’s stock market is staging a strong comeback. The benchmark Straits Times Index ended 2020 as the worst performer in Asia, losing 11.8% through the year. But the STI climbed around 12.2% so far this year, and has become one of the region’s top performers. Read more: CNBC
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In 1 trade recorded yesterday, 100 shares were transacted resulting in a turnover of K135. Trading activity was recorded in Standard Chartered Zambia. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) maintained its close at 4,021.07 points, as there were no share price movements. The market closed on a capitalization of K57,838,837,980 including Shoprite Holdings and K23,594,197,206 excluding Shoprite Holdings.
Chart of the Day: