Good morning. Here’s what you need to know to start your day.
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Zambia, bondholders advance $3 bln debt restructuring talks -sources
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China top threat to UK economic security – UK Deputy Prime Minister
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In the final week of June, the bond market recorded a 99% score to 1% on the equity market
Story of the Day
PremierCredit, a multi-award-winning leading fintech company specializing in next generation financial services for emerging markets proudly announces a significant achievement in its journey towards becoming a trusted financial services provider. The company has successfully obtained a payments systems business license from the Central Bank of Zambia and a Credit-only Microfinance License from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. This achievement marks a momentous step forward in PremierCredit’s commitment to delivering secure, accessible, and cutting-edge financial services to its valued customers. The acquisition of the license from the Central Bank of Zambia and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is a testament to PremierCredit’s dedication to operating in full compliance with regulatory frameworks. This milestone exemplifies our continuous efforts to meet the highest standards of governance, transparency, and security in the ever-evolving financial landscape. Read more
In Local Business News Sponsored by
Zambia’s overseas bondholders have entered into non-disclosure agreements (NDA) with the government as of Wednesday, according to three sources, a key step marking the beginning of formal restructuring talks over $3 billion of international bonds. The country’s government is expected to share with some of its biggest international bondholders – members of the creditor committee – detailed information that forms the basis of debt restructuring talks as early as Wednesday, said the sources with direct knowledge, who asked not to be identified because talks are private. Read more: Reuters
The Rural Electrification Authority -REA says it needs $50m per year for it to reach its target of connecting 51% of the country to electricity by 2030. REA Chief Executive Officer Linus Chanda says the money is enough for the authority to reach its target under the Master Plan which is also part of Government development agenda. Speaking at a stakeholder engagement symposium with Members of Parliament at Parliament Grounds, Mr. Chanda said government does not have such funds for the project but REA is engaging the private sector to push the agenda. Read more: ZNBC
Liquid Dataport is set to expand its fibre backbone to connect Luanda, Angola and Lusaka, Zambia directly. The move follows Liquid’s launch of a new fibre link between Lobito, Angola and Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The firm – business of Liquid Intelligent Technologies – aims to provide a 2500 km fibre route to bring additional and affordable Internet services to millions of people. Through this investment, Liquid will directly connect Angola to Zambia through its fibre network in Zambia and collaborate with partners – including Angola Telecom – in the two countries. The addition of this route to Liquid’s regional fibre backbone is a significant expansion of its existing 110,000 km fibre backbone, providing its regional customers access to high-speed connectivity and cloud services at affordable costs. Read more: IT Web
Zambia and Kuwait on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) which involves partnering in the training of human resources in the aviation industry. The MOU has been signed by the Southern Africa Institute of Science and Technology from Zambia and the College of Aviation and Technology from Kuwait. Fredrick Mwalusaka, the permanent secretary in Zambia’s Ministry of Transport and Logistics, said the signing of the MOU is significant for Zambia as it will reduce the cost of providing training and foster the transfer of technical expertise to local trainees. “This occasion is significant for us as aviation training is one of the key factors that dictate success in the industry. However, this training has been quite expensive as it has been accessed outside the country,” he said. Read more: China View
Bank of Zambia Exchange Rates
Currency | Buying | Selling |
---|---|---|
USD | 18.2818 | 18.3282 |
GBP | 23.5726 | 23.6397 |
EUR | 20.0716 | 20.1299 |
ZAR | 0.9802 | 0.9830 |
In International Business News
China represents the “largest state-based threat” to Britain’s economic security, Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden has told the BBC. It comes as figures show the government intervened in eight attempted takeovers of UK firms by Chinese buyers last year over national security fears. That was more than any other country, but UK and US deals were also targeted. Mr Dowden said the decisions were “country agnostic” but he was “clear-eyed” about UK national security. Read more: BBC News
Bank of America has been ordered to pay out $150m in penalties after it was found to have opened credit cards without customers’ permission. Regulators also discovered the bank “double-dipped” fees from customers and withheld promised reward bonuses. The violations at the US’s second-largest bank affect hundreds of thousands of customers and date back to 2012 in some cases, regulators said. Bank of America has not admitted or denied the investigation’s findings. The bank has been ordered to refund customers and pay a total of $150m in penalties to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). Read more: BBC News
As Chinese battery mineral manufacturers increase output in the African nation, Sinomine Resource of China announced on Monday that the building of a spodumene concentrate facility at its Zimbabwe lithium mine has been completed. In January 2022, Sinomine paid $180 million to buy Bikita Minerals, one of Africa’s oldest lithium mines, and started constructing a spodumene concentrate factory while enlarging the current petalite plant, as seen in the American news site Reuters. Read more: Business Insider
The dollar sank to a two-month low against major peers on Wednesday in the lead-up to a U.S. inflation reading, while sterling scaled a 15-month top on expectations the Bank of England (BoE) has further to go in raising rates. The yen jumped to a one-month high and strengthened past 140 to the dollar for the first time in a month, helped by a slump in U.S. Treasury yields and bets for a policy tweak by the Bank of Japan (BOJ) at this month’s monetary policy meeting. Investors were laser-focused on U.S. inflation data due later on Wednesday, with expectations for core consumer prices to have risen 5% on an annual basis in June and for the figures to provide further clarity on the Federal Reserve’s progress in its fight against inflation. Read more: Yahoo Finance
In the final week of June 2023, trading on the Lusaka Securities Exchange we take a look at how the Bond market and Equity market performed against each other. The bond market recorded a 99% score to 1% on the equity market, this is a six percentage increase from its performance last year of 93% to 7%. Read more
No trades were recorded yesterday. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) maintained its close at 8,228.25. The market closed on a capitalization of K76,747,750,588.88 including Shoprite Holdings and K41,965,065,148.88 excluding Shoprite Holdings.