Story of the Day
Lusaka’s prestigious members club hosted its first ever “Power Lunch” which brought together captains of industry and high net worth individuals to sit down discussion with thought leaders of both banking and fintech industries. The Quorum which has fast become a venue of choice for hosting events for corporates and entities seeking an easily accessible yet high quality venue for functions. The “Power Lunch” ticked all the boxes when it came to the selection of speakers for the discussion, content of discussion, invited guests, so much more. Sponsored by Stanbic Bank Zambia, the inaugural event’s discourse, which was moderated by Costa Mwansa of the Diamond TV fame, was centered around the impact of financial technology in the Zambian financial sector. Read more
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The chaotic state of the global environment continues to drive investor behavior with most seeking safe haven for their liquidity. Most offshores continue to seek refuge in dollar denominated assets, typical in times of uncertainty, and additionally emerging market assets like bonds especially in nations that are on International Monetary Fund programs. One jurisdiction seeing an influx of offshores is Zambia. Friday September 17th bond sale saw an influx of purchasing power with bids totaling K5.4 billion of which 47% at cost were absorbed. This is the first full subscription since February of this year with fairly spread interest across 2-10 year tenors. As offshores that took big bets on the Southern African nations fiscal recovery, the debt sale saw the highest interest in 10 year bonds. Read more: The Business Telegraph
As mining prospects brighten in Africa’s second largest copper producer, energy is set to take a positive cue from higher production targets and above all healthy metal prices on the London Metal Exchange. These two booming sectors are driving the capital market performance stronger by all standards. One recent development was the record interim dividend payment announcement that priced into the Copperbelt Energy Corporation stock sending it into a 13.23% two day rally to K4.00. CEC stock rally scaled the energy distributors market capitalization to K6.5 billion surpassing ZCCM-IH (the state mining investment vehicle) at K6.11 billion. This one day spike cumulated the stocks appreciation to 50% year to date with the LuSE ALSI currently at 7,211 representing an 19% YTD appreciation. Read more: The Business Telegraph
Zambia’s mining industry is booming with the production of multiple mineral raw materials, including copper, cobalt, gold, nickel, manganese, emeralds, beryllium, myriad gemstones, sulphur, zinc, coal, iron ore, steel, limestone, uranium, and other platinum-group metals. Contributing heavily to the country’s economy, mining in Zambia provides export income, royalty payments and employment. Later this month, the renowned Mining and Technical Exhibitions (MTE) Zambia, takes place in three locations-Kalumbila, Solwezi and Kitwe. The MTE events take place throughout South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa with one of the main aims being to nurture the mining and related industries by providing up-to-date information and to shed light on developments affecting the sector. Read more: The Guardian
“We get most of the drugs we are using in Zambia from India. The idea is to strategically engage and explore ways on how we can work through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) and also with Government in setting up the manufacturing industry in Zambia which can target the local market as well as the SADC region. Read more: Lusaka Times
International Business and Finance in Partnership with ICT & FINTECH EXPO 2022
Interest rate hikes by central banks around the world could trigger a global recession in 2023, the World Bank has said. Central banks have raised rates “with a degree of synchronicity not seen over the past five decades” to tackle soaring prices, it said. Raising rates makes borrowing more expensive to try to bring down the pace of price rises. But it also makes loans more costly, which can slow economic growth. The warning from the World Bank comes ahead of monetary policy meetings by the US Federal Reserve and Bank of England, which are expected to increase key interest rates this week. Read more: BBC News
The pound has fallen to a new 37-year low against the US dollar after figures showed UK retail sales fell sharply in August as the rise in the cost of living continued to hit households. The larger-than-expected drop in sales volumes of 1.6% prompted fresh concerns over the state of the economy. Sales across all retail sectors fell in August as households cut back in the face of rising prices. One analyst suggested the figures showed the UK is already in recession. Read more: BBC News
The Ugandan Government has accused the EU of attempting to thwart its economic growth. The disagreement between the EU parliament and the Ugandan government arose from the recent partnership between Uganda and Tanzania on oil excavation. Uganda and Tanzania are developing a cross-border oil extraction and pipeline project comprising the installation of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), which will transport oil produced from Uganda’s Lake Albert oilfields to the port of Tanga in Tanzania. This new development spurred a protest from concerned citizens, over the environmental damage that could ensue. Some of the protesters have been arrested and the EU is calling on the Ugandan Government to release those placed in custody. Read more: Business Insider
S&P 500 futures were lower on Monday morning after the major averages posted their worst week since June and ahead of the Federal Reserve’s two-day meeting this week. Futures tied to the broad market index were down 0.6% in premarket trading. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were 0.53%, or 179 points, lower, while Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.74%. On Friday, stocks slid as investors reacted to a hotter-than-expected inflation report and a dismal warning from FedEx about a “significantly worsened” global economy. The Dow industrials dropped 139 points, while the S&P 500 lost 0.7% and the Nasdaq Composite shed 0.9%. Read more: CNBC
Capital Markets Report
In 93 trades recorded on Friday, 317,806 shares were transacted resulting in a turnover of K2,111,221. A share price gain was recorded in Copperbelt Energy Corporation of K0.18. Trading activity was also recorded in Standard Chartered Zambia, Zambia Breweries, Zambeef, Zanaco, Zambia Sugar and CEC Africa on the quoted tier. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) closed at 7,211.23 points, 0.93% up from its previous close of 7,144.03 points. The market closed on a capitalization of K72,320,869,731 including Shoprite Holdings and K37,538,184,291 excluding Shoprite Holdings.