Story of the Day:
Lafarge Zambia Plc has announced the resignation of its long-serving Company Secretary, according to a statement by the company. Read more
Local Business and Finance
Zambia’s central bank raised its key interest rate for a second time this year, to 11.5% from 10.25%. Bucking a global easing trend, in a bid to support its currency and tame inflation. Read more: Bloomberg
Stanbic Bank Zambia has launched the digital loan facility where customers will be able to apply for a loan online which will be approved within a minute. Read more: ZNBC
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has signed a Memorandum of Understanding MoU with the New Zealand Government aimed at modernizing air transportation services. Read more: ZNBC
Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) Commissioner General Kingsley Chanda has proposed to the Ministry of Finance that all Government institutions must be compelled to clear all goods using indigenous owned companies. Mr. Chanda has also proposed that private companies must give a minimum of 20 percent of their volumes to Zambian owned clearing companies. Read more: Lusaka Times
Washington based lender International Monetary Fund (IMF) projects Zambia’s economic expansion to be less than 2% for 2019. The Dhaneshwar Ghura led team that visited Zambia said in a report that the copper producers macros had deteriorated due to a combination of fiscal and drought effects. Read more: The Business Telegraph
Vedanta Resources Limited says it has settled US $203 million of KCM’s debt since liquidation, adding that the company is committed to engaging with minority shareholder ZCCM-IH and government to find a solution which is in the best interest of the mine. Read more: News Diggers
International Business and Finance
African Development Bank continues in its dedication to develop the African region with its latest signing of a US$250 million risk participation agreement. Read more: Business Chief
The government of Angola is planning to issue $3 billion worth of Eurobonds on the international market between late 2019 and early 2020. The information was announced by Banco de Fomento Angola in an official statement. Read more: Ecofin Agency
President Donald Trump’s months-long delicate dance with Apple Inc. and its chief executive, Tim Cook, reached a breakthrough of sorts late Wednesday, when the president said he is “looking” at exempting the iPhone maker from a coming round of China tariffs. Read more: Market Watch
An anticipated “phase one” trade deal between the U.S. and China will likely be inked, but the subsequent stages “remain distant,” according to one strategist at Morgan Stanley. Read more: CNBC
Huawei suppliers in the United States are about to find out whether they can restart sales to the beleaguered Chinese company. The US Department of Commerce announced on Wednesday that it would grant “several licenses” to US companies to sell goods to Huawei. Read more: CNN
On Thursday, PayPal announced it would spend approximately $4 billion in its largest acquisition ever to buy Honey, a free browser extension that helps people save money by finding deals and tracking prices. Read more: Forbes
Capital Markets Report
In 11 trades recorded yesterday, 7,081 shares were transacted, resulting in a market turnover of K28,500. A share price gain of K0.09 was recorded in Zambia Breweries. Trading activity was also recorded in Airtel, CEC Zambia and VGIP on the quoted tier. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) closed at 4,259.50 points up by 0.28% from its previous close of 4,247.69 points. The market closed on a capitalization of K56,534,726,027 including Shoprite Holdings and K22,295,520,047 excluding Shoprite Holdings.
Chart of the Day: