Story of the Day:
If you had gone to a factory in 1980, and went to the same factory in 2022, you probably might not see as many people there as you would have seen back in the 80’s. Chances are excellent you’ll probably see more machines and robots on the assembly line. This speaks volumes as to how work has changed in the manufacturing space. Read more
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Africa’s red metal producer Zambia on 16 February 2022 reprieve in its Long Term Issuer Rating (LTIR) after Standards and Poor’s (S&P) rating agency improved its grading to ‘CCC+‘ from ‘CCC’ with stable outlook. The agency left Zambia’s foreign currency rating at Selective Default (SD) with stable outlook. S&P cited significant steps the MinFin has taken towards restoration of fiscal fitness through local currency arrears dismantling despite the backlog still remaining high. Read more: The Business Telegraph
Zanaco Plc says the Kwacha is poised to break the K18.00 trading mark against the US dollar on the interbank market due to inadequate supply of the greenback despite month-end conversions. In Lusaka, some bureaux de change such as Golden Coin and Unifinance are already selling the dollar at K18.00 and K18.05, respectively. Read more: Zambia Daily Mail
Atlas Mara Bank has pledged to continue supporting the Zambian government’s agenda through the provision of banking services under the Farmer Input Support Program (FISP) noting that currently the bank supports more than 200,000 farmers across the country annually. The Bank’s Board Member Jacob Sikazwe said during the just ended farming season, the bank paid out more than K400 million to farmers through the Food Reserve Agency (FRA). Read more: Zambian Business Times
GoviEx Uranium, the developers of Mutanda Uranium mining project has indicated that they plan to start actual uranium mining in Zambia in the next five years. The Canada listed company stated that “the mine-permitted Mutanga project in Zambia is forecast to start production in 2027 and could be the lowest capital intensive uranium project in Africa.” Read more: Zambian Business Times
International Business and Finance
The US central bank’s boss has indicated that he plans to press ahead with interest rate increases this month. Speaking in front of Congress, Jerome Powell said he’s in favour of a 0.25 point increase, aimed at tackling the surging cost of living. The bank is under pressure to rein in inflation as prices in the US rise at the fastest rate in 40 years. Analysts expect a rate hike in March, which would be the first since 2018. Read more: BBC News
Federal lawmakers in both Nigeria’s National Assembly and House of Representatives have voted overwhelmingly in support of a constitutional amendment bill aimed at allowing state governments to generate and transmit their own electricity. Read more: Business Insider
U.S. stock index futures struggled for direction in early morning trading Thursday, after the major averages finished the day higher despite escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine. Futures contracts tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose just 36 points. S&P 500 futures gained 0.15%, while Nasdaq 100 futures sat above the flatline. Read more: CNBC
Tesla and Elon Musk are facing a trial over the CEO’s 2018 pay package, which was worth around $2.5 billion at the time it was granted. Shareholder Richard J. Tornetta sued Musk and the Tesla board after the package was cleared. The suit claimed it was excessive and said authorization by the electric car company’s board of directors amounted to a breach of its fiduciary duty. Read more: CNBC
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In 121 trades recorded yesterday, 641,900 shares were transacted resulting in a turnover of K2,985,228.23. Trading activity was also recorded in AECI, Airtel, CEC, FQM, Chilanga Cement, Puma, Standard Chartered Zambia and Zanaco, Zambia Sugar, ZAFFICO. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) closed at 6,490.13 points. The market closed on a capitalization of K68,989,106,498 including Shoprite Holdings and K34,206,421,058 excluding Shoprite Holdings.