Story of the Day:
There has been a salient battle that has ensued since the advent of ‘digital’ money. While brick and mortar Banks in Zambia have invested colossal amounts of cash kwacha in installing Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) at various secure locations to ensure ‘easy’ access to cash, all the mobile telecommunication companies in Zambia (except for the Angolans who have a license with no signal) have integrated Mobile Money (MoMo) into their product offering. Read more
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The Embassy of the Republic of Zambia in Japan has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Japan Institute for Overseas Investment (JOI) to help Zambia attract more Japanese Investment in the country. Read more: Lusaka Times
The Kwacha, which has depreciated to trade above K15 against the United States (US) dollar, is expected to recoup some of its losses in the short term as corporates start converting their greenback to settle mid-month tax obligations. Read more: Zambia Daily Mail
The Infrastructure Summit and Expo 2020 is expected to kick off tomorrow in the resort town of Victoria Falls, with participants expected to exchange notes on how to tackle this regional challenge threatening economic development. This event to be attended by high ranking officials from South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe, intends to unveil various opportunities in the three countries covering a number of sectors including water and sanitation, roads and rail, tourism, housing and ICT. Read more: The Herald
The Board of Directors of Zambian Breweries Plc wishes to advise Shareholders that for the period ended 31st December, 2019, the earnings per share is expected to be 81% lower than that of the corresponding period last year for the Company. Read more: LuSE
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Inward Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and the effects it has on the host country has been the subject of debate over the years, producing a wide range of empirical results in academic literature with little convergence whereas policymakers generally accept that inward Forward Direct Investment is valuable to their economy. Read more
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The International Monetary Fund has announced $50billion of support for countries hit by the coronavirus. As a result, stocks in Asia traded higher on Thursday afternoon while the Dow Jones Industrial Average skyrocketed 1,173.45 points higher to close at 27,090.86 — its second-highest point gain ever, and the second time in three days that the 30-stock average swung 1,000 points or higher. Read more: BBC News
OPEC+ found itself stuck yet again, after a day of talks ended with its two most important members split over whether they should deepen production cuts to offset the huge demand hit from the coronavirus epidemic. With oil prices down more than 20% since the beginning of the year, the debate between Russia and Saudi Arabia was being closely watched across the energy industry. The fortunes of resource-dependent economies from Africa to Asia, as well as corporate giants like Exxon Mobil Corp. and shale drillers in Texas, could turn on the cartel’s decision. Read more: Bloomberg
The European Union’s executive aims to introduce laws to combat gender pay gap across the bloc for the first time ever in a bid to fight inequality and boost the economy, according to a document seen by Reuters ahead of official publication. The European Commission will present on Thursday a list of steps to promote gender equality in the 27-nation bloc, and its strategy said women in the EU earn on average 16% less than men, perpetuating a pension disparity of 30% between the sexes. Read more: Reuters
The novel coronavirus outbreak has been brutal for China and could plunge the country’s economy into its first contraction since the 1970s. Economic activity sharply declined across the board in February as companies struggled to reopen for business or hire workers during a government-mandated shutdown, according to official and private surveys released in recent days. Read more: CNN
With the U.S.-China trade war last year and the outbreak of the new coronavirus, American technology firms Apple, Microsoft and Google have reportedly looked to move more production of their hardware products out of the world’s second-largest economy. But reducing reliance on China won’t be easy. Read more: CNBC
EU and UK negotiators have knuckled down to detailed negotiations on their future relationship, but one of Britain’s most economically important sectors is barely covered. The UK financial services industry’s access to the European market will not be settled in the trade talks that began this week in Brussels. The EU has consistently rebuffed attempts by successive British governments to do a deal that would preserve as much as possible of the City of London’s role as Europe’s financial supermarket. Read more: Financial Times
Capital Markets Report
In 29 trades recorded yesterday, 2,097,538 shares were transacted yielding a market turnover of K1,052,470. Trading activity was recorded in Lafarge, Standard Chartered Bank Limited and Zanaco. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) maintained its close of 4,250.48 points, as there were no share price movements. The market closed on a capitalization of K57,319,774,180 including Shoprite Holdings and K23,080,568,200 excluding Shoprite Holdings
Chart of the Day: