Story of the Day:
Zambia Sugar Plc has announced the appointment of Raphael Chipoma as the new Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the company following convincing negotiations by the Rebecca Katowa management team in replacing the vacant position. Read more
Local Business and Finance
ZANACO Bank has projected national economic growth of up to 2.8 per cent in 2020 from 2.2 percent in 2019. Read more: ZNBC
Analysts in Zambia are left guessing whether the central bank will call for an emergency monetary policy meeting or leave the currency to slide even further after hitting an all time low of 15.2/14.9 for a unit of dollar in 05 December trading. Read more: The Business Telegraph
An associate professor in the School of Mines and Mineral Sciences at the Copperbelt University (CBU) says the mines have potential to produce 500,000 metric tonnes of copper per annum provided there is fiscal stability in the industry. Read more: Zambia Daily Mail
Government should consider putting in place long-term measures that will help reduce the price of borrowing and provide a route to refinance the country’s long-standing debt obligations, a consortium of civil society organisations (CSOs) has said. Read more: Zambia Daily Mail
The Copperbelt Energy Corporation (CEC) says it has invested USD $10 million in the latest technology at its Gastine turbine Alternator (GTA) at Luano Substation in Chingola in order to generate more electricity. Read more: PG Zambia
International Business and Finance
Saudi Aramco is poised to achieve the biggest initial public offering in history next week by raising $25.6billion for the Saudi state in its market debut. Read more: The Guardian
France’s largest nationwide strike in years has severely disrupted schools and transport. Workers are angry about planned pension reforms that would see them retiring later or facing reduced payouts. Read more: BBC News
Huawei Technologies Co. filed a fresh legal challenge against the U.S., seeking to block a Federal Communications Commission decision last month that further restricts the Chinese telecom giant’s ability to operate in the U.S. Read more: Wall Street Journal
The World Bank said its board on Thursday adopted a new plan to aid China with $1 billion to $1.5 billion in low-interest loans annually through June 2025, despite the objections of U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and several U.S. lawmakers. Read more: CNBC
Global growth will recover in the second half of 2020 as the trade war between Washington and Beijing eases and central banks’ monetary policies come into effect said Adrian Zuercher, APAC head of asset allocation at UBS Global Wealth Management’s Chief Investment Office. Read more: CNBC
Boeing Co. executives met this week with pilots, flight attendants and industry consultants to build confidence in changes to the 737 Max jetliner, which has been grounded since March after two fatal crashes. The planemaker said it’s confident that finalized software updates will win regulatory approval. Read more: Bloomberg
Capital Markets Report
In 12 trades recorded yesterday, 15,174 shares were transacted, resulting in a market turnover of K12,124. Trading activity was recorded in Copperbelt Energy Corporation, Lafarge, Zanaco and CEC Africa on the quoted tier. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) maintained its close of 4,272.91 points. The market closed on a capitalization of K56,590,475,629 including Shoprite Holdings and K22,351,269,649 excluding Shoprite Holdings.
Chart of the Day:
