Story of the Day
President Cyril Ramaphosa has, in his capacity as AU COVID-19 Champion, welcomed the Serum Institute of India (SII) ground-breaking initiative to provide an initial USD 2,500,000 that will support the AU COVID-19 Commission as it implements the mandate to establish an AU Health Workforce Task Team which will undertake the programmatic work, public engagement and consensus building towards a fit-for-purpose health workforce that can sustain Universal Health Coverage in Africa. The AU COVID-19 Commission supports President Ramaphosa in its role as COVID-19 Champion. It partners with Africa CDC (which forms the technical arm of the Secretariat), Serum Institute of India and Seed Global Health to execute this mandate. Read more
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The Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) has recorded investment pledges worth $3.8b in the first six months of this year. Acting ZDA Director General Albert Halwampa says the investments are in the agriculture, tourism, construction and mining sectors which are set to create 19,000 jobs. Mr Halwampa says the investment inflows are as a result of President Hakainde Hichilema’s foreign trips which are bearing fruit. Read more: ZNBC
Independent Consultant in Statistics and Public Finance Shebo Nalishebo is the new Alternate Executive Director for the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group 1 Constituency. This is for the period of August 1st 2022, to 31st July, 2025. And Finance and National Planning Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane has congratulated Mr. Nalishebo who is also Bank of Zambia Board Member, on his deserved appointment. Dr. Musokotwane says the New Dawn Administration will continue to support Zambians who have requisite qualifications and experience to take up assignments, employment and leadership opportunities in regional and international organisations such as the African Development Bank. Read more: ZNBC
Minister of Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development Charles Milupi says government decided to cancel the contract for the construction of the Lusaka-Ndola dual carriageway because it has no money to fund the project. Milupi said the project would now be undertaken by the private sector under the Private Public Partnership-PPP Act, which will not cost government anything adding that it was too expensive for government to continue with the works under the previous contract. Read more: Zambian Business Times
The Zambia National Farmers’ Union (ZNFU) has expressed concern over the dumping of several fresh commodities like cabbages and tomatoes on the market by some farmers which the organisation says is resulting in a significant drop in commodity prices. Read more: Xinhua
Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development has directed Constituency Development Fund (CDF) committees to ensure that all potential cooperatives are equally considered for the empowerment grants despite the period they were created. Speaking during a joint media briefing, Permanent Secretary for Technical Services Nicolas Phiri stated that it has come to the Ministry’s attention that some CDF Committees are giving preferences to old cooperatives, while new ones are neglected when considering cooperatives to benefit from the empowerment fund, which must not be the case. Read more: Money FM
International Business and Finance
Toyota Motor Corp has posted a 42 percent decline in quarterly operating profits as the Japanese automaker is squeezed by supply constraints and rising costs. Operating profit for the three months ending June 30 sank to 578.66 billion yen ($4.3bn) from 997.4 billion yen ($7.45bn) in the same period a year earlier, Toyota said on Thursday, capping some difficult months for the brand. Read more: Al-Jazeera
The US Senate has approved a sweeping $700bn economic package that includes major legislation on healthcare, tax and climate change. The bill seeks to lower the cost of some medicines, increase corporate taxes and reduce carbon emissions. The passing of the bill – a flagship part of President Joe Biden’s agenda – is a boost ahead of mid-term elections. But it is a significantly scaled-back version of the $3.5tn package that was first proposed by his administration. Read more: BBC News
Asian exporters will face significant challenges as demand from major markets like the U.S., Europe and China slow down in the coming months, according to the chief Asia economist of HSBC. Manufacturers in Europe are already pulling back quite significantly, namely in Germany, Frederic Neumann told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” on Monday. “Remember that Europe is a major export market for Asian exporters,” the economist pointed out. Read more: CNBC
European markets were muted on Tuesday as focus in global markets turns to a key U.S. inflation print due Wednesday. The pan-European Stoxx 600 slipped fractionally below the flatline in early trade, with basic resources shedding 0.7% to lead losses as most sectors and major bourses showed minimal movement. Media stocks added 0.4%. Read more: CNBC
Capital Markets Report
In 87 trades recorded yesterday, 65,613 shares were transacted resulting in a turnover of K544,744. Share price gains were recorded in CEC and in Zambia Sugar of K0.03 and K0.13 respectively. Trading activity was also recorded in AECI, Airtel, Investrust, Chilanga Cement, Standard Chartered Zambia and Zanaco. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) closed at 6,937.39 points, 0.30% up from its previous close of 6,916.74 points. The market closed on a capitalization of K71,128,904,676 including Shoprite Holdings and K36,346,219,236 excluding Shoprite Holdings.