Good morning. Here’s what you need to know to start your day.
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We need a law to regulate political funding – ACC
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Bank of England says recession expected to be shorter and less severe
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ZCCM-IH Company Secretary resigns
Story of the Day
As 2023 gets underway, it is still not clear whether the shots of digitization induced by the pandemic will have a lasting impact on the remittance channels millions of migrants around the world employ to reach intended beneficiaries. Indeed, innovations in cross-border remittances lag significantly behind other segments of the digital payments space, principally due to the additional complexities of navigating technical and political borders sustainably and at scale. Yet a slew of back-end players has been at the job for over a decade connecting cross-border corridors into more regionally integrated financial hubs, and more are poised to join their ranks. What can inflection points in the vertical integration of cross-border payment infrastructures tell us about the future of frictionless digital finance? Read more
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Zimbabwe and Zambia are working to expedite the implementation of two key power generation projects to bring relief to citizens of the two countries who, along with others in the region, have been enduring long hours of loadshedding in the past three months. The speeding up of the Batoka Gorge Hydro-electric Power Station, estimated to cost US$4,5 billion, and the revival of the Kariba Hydro Power Station, are largely seen as part of long-term energy solutions for the two neighbouring countries which have a long history in joint power projects. Read more: Zimbabwe Situation
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) says the country needs a law which will not only regulate political funding but also set a limit on how much funding a political party can receive. And Transparency International Zambia (TI-Z) chapter president Sampa Kalungu says political parties usually grow “slow legs” when it comes to enacting a law that will regulate their financing. Read more: News Diggers
Government says it is committed to fighting financial crimes ranging from Corruption, Money laundering and terrorism financing which is clearly demonstrated through the various policy and reforms such as the establishment of the financial crimes court. Ministry of Finance Minister, Situmbeko Musokotwane says in ensuring that this fight is in conformity with the global community, the government is committed to ensure strict compliance to international standards on combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism. Read more: Lusaka Times
Zambia is among the beneficiaries of a new special fund to support Africa’s Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in the agriculture sector. This has been established by the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) and the Canadian government. Canada has contributed US$73.5 million to fund the mechanism, which is hosted by the AfDB. The Agri-food SME Catalytic Financing Mechanism will add to the Bank Group Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa’s (AFAWA) goal of closing the US$42 billion access to finance gap for women-led SMEs and to accelerate their growth. Read more: Zambia Monitor
Zambia Airports Corporation Acting Managing Director Maggie Kaunda says the country recorded more tourist arrivals from within Africa and Europe in 2022 compared to 2021. Mrs. Kaunda says 1.6 million passengers were handled at Zambian airports in 2022 compared to 753,000 in 2021 She attributed the increase to the relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions. Read more: ZNBC
In International Business News
The UK is set to enter recession this year but it will be shorter and less severe than previously thought, according to the Bank of England. The slump is now expected to last just over a year rather than almost two as energy bills fall and price rises slow. As a result fewer people are likely to lose their jobs, but the economy remains fragile, warned the Bank. The forecast comes as interest rates were raised to 4% from 3.5%, their highest level in over 14 years. Read more: BBC News
Apple sales dropped at the end of 2022 as shoppers squeezed by the rising cost of living cut back their purchases. Sales at the iPhone giant fell 5% in the three months to December compared with the same period in 2021. It was the biggest decline since 2019 and worse than expected. Sales of its popular iPhones were down more than 8%, and sales of Mac computers dropped 29%. The declines hit the firm’s profits, which fell 13% to $30bn. Read more: BBC News
Alphabet, Google’s parent company, has settled into a period of stalled growth as economic uncertainty reverberates across Silicon Valley. Gone are the pandemic boom times, when the internet giant’s profit and employee head count soared. On Thursday, the company posted its fourth consecutive decline in profit as it grapples with a slowdown in digital advertising. Net income plummeted 34% to $13.6 billion, falling short of Wall Street expectations of $15.3 billion. Read more: New York Times
Amazon posted stronger than expected sales for the 2022 holiday shopping season, but shares fell in after-hours trading on slowed growth for its cloud computing division, AWS. Overall, net sales for the ecommerce group, which has been battling cost-conscious consumers and spiralling costs, were $142.2bn in the three months to December 31, up 9% from 2021 and exceeding analysts’ estimates. Robust sales events during the holiday season offered glimmers of hope that Amazon’s retail business may be staging a recovery. Read more: Financial Times
Finally, Capital Markets News
In compliance with the Securities Act No. 41 of 2016 and the Lusaka Securities Exchange Listing Rules (“LuSE Rules”), the Board of Directors of ZCCM Investments Holdings PLC (“ZCCM-IH” or “the Company”) hereby announces the resignation of Mr. Chabby Chabala as Company Secretary effective 18 February 2023. The ZCCM-IH Board thanks Mr. Chabala for his contribution to the Company and wishes him well in his future endeavours. Read more
In 22 trades recorded yesterday, 16,629 shares were transacted resulting in a turnover of K51,599.19. Share price gains of K0.02 were recorded in both ZAFFICO and Zambeef and a K0.01 in Zanaco. Trading activity was recorded in CEC, Chilanga Cement, PUMA, Standard Chartered Bank Limited, Zambeef and Zambia Sugar as well as CEC Africa on the quoted tier. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) closed at 7,262.83, points 0.09% points up from it’s previous close at 7,256.29 points. The market closed on a capitalization of K72,545,457,636.85 including Shoprite Holdings and K37,762,772,196.85 excluding Shoprite Holdings.
Bond trades of face value K80,956,000 were traded in 8 trades resulting in a market value of K66,892.570.
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