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Kenyan President, Ruto, calls for one African currency to facilitate trade at Heads of State Summit
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Euro zone enters recession after Germany, Ireland growth revision
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(CORRECTED) Zambeef expects gross profit to be between 8% – 12%.
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(CORRECTED) Pamodzi’s turnover for the period ended March 2023 was ZMW105.39 million in compared to ZMW50.48 million in 2022
Story of the Day
BuyZed Founder and Chief Executive Officer Evans Ng’oma has proposed to the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) member states to consider adopting the BuyZed concept that seeks to promote the consuming of locally produced goods and services. Mr Ng’oma expressed optimism that if the BuyZed concept was to be adopted and actualised more job opportunities will be created within the regional block through the establishment of industries. He further explained during an exclusive interview that time has come when member states should fully capitalise the readily available local markets through the promotion of consuming locally produced products, as opposed at looking to the international markets. Mr Ng’oma who is part of the delegates attending the high level 22nd COMESA Summit being held in Lusaka under the theme “Economic Integration for a Thriving COMESA Anchored on Green Investment, Value Addition and Tourism” suggested that the programme can be dubbed “Buy COMESA.” Read more
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President of Kenya, William Samoei Ruto, has called for a resolution on possibilities of using a single currency in trade facilitation in Africa to eliminate obstacles posed by varying currencies. Ruto observed that the region lacked a single system that seamlessly facilitated trade among nations, eliminating the obstacles posed by varying currencies. He said this on Thursday in Lusaka at the 22nd COMESA Heads of States and Government Summit under the theme: “Economic Integration for a thriving COMESA anchored on Green Investment, Value Addition and Tourism.” “It is also imperative that we proactively seek a resolution to the disparities in currencies and the consequential impediments it poses to intra-African trade. Trade cannot take place without efficient and unified payment systems. “Although there has been introduction of several regional payment infrastructures in the continent, we lack a single system that seamlessly facilitates trade among our nations, eliminating the obstacles posed by varying currencies,” Ruto said. Read more: Zambia Monitor
Participants at the 16th Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Business Forum have resolved to, among other issues, promote regional flight connectivity, value addition and develop a regional approach to illicit trade at international platform. The Business Forum took place on Wednesday in Lusaka under the theme, “Economic Integration for A Thriving COMESA Anchored on Green Investment, Value Addition and Tourism.” Presenting the resolutions on Thursday, COMESA Business Council president, Marday Venkatasamy, said member states were urged to put in place measures that would revamp the tourism sector that was among the worst hit by Covid-19. Venkatasamy said member states were urged to promote regional flight connectivity and also put measures in place to facilitate reduction of regional travel cost to encourage regional and international travellers especially tourists, as a recovery measure. “Tourism sector is a major source of revenue for many countries, and an important part of the GDP. The sector supports millions of direct and indirect jobs all over the world, particularly for women and young people. Read more: Zambia Monitor
The Governments of Zambia and Tanzania have signed a communiqué to resolve challenges in the Dar-Es-Salaam Corridor to ensure the seamless flow of traffic and reduced cost of trade between Kapiri-Mposhi and Dar-Es-Salaam. The communiqué was signed during a two-day Bilateral Road Transport Meeting between the Ministries of Transport from the two countries held in Tunduma in Tanzania. The Road Transport Bilateral Meeting was convened to review and resolve the challenges transporters are facing along the Dar-Es-Salaam Corridor, following a joint technical committee report that had input from the assessment of the transport route from Kapiri-Mposhi to Dar-Es-Salaam. Read more: Lusaka Times
Minister of Transport Frank Tayali has said the Government has requested World Bank and International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to assist Zambia to produce aviation fuel through the Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Project. Speaking at the 8th Aviation Annual Stakeholders’ Forum in Lusaka on Wednesday, Mr. Tayali said this has been done in a bid to reduce the cost of aviation fuel. He said as Zambia targets to become a transport and logistics hub in the Southern African Region reducing the cost of aviation fuel would be key. Mr. Tayali highlighted the importance of the of the aviation industry to the growth and development of the economy. Read more: Lusaka Times
Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry Chipoka Mulenga says government is coming up with a facility that will allow trade between government and the private sector to be done on digital e-Commerce platforms. Mr. Chipoka says digitisation of businesses is critical in providing ease of doing and limiting the cost of doing business. The commerce minister disclosed this during a Roundtable discussion dubbed “Accelerating the Recovery of COMESA Member States from COVID19 focusing on Green Investment, Value Addition and Tourism” He added that digitisation and the use of e-Commerce in doing business further limits human interaction which also results in stopping corrupt activities. Read more: Lusaka Times
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi stressed Egypt’s keenness on cementing its historical ties with Zambia and enhancing mutual cooperation in different domains. The president made his statements on Thursday during a meeting with his Zambian counterpart Hakainde Hichilema on the fringe of the 22nd Summit of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) in the Zambian capital Lusaka. Sisi reiterated that Egypt is also keen to increase trade exchange and explore investment opportunities, highlighting Egypt’s preparedness to continue backing Zambia in building its capabilities in addition to coordinating efforts on African and regional issues, said Presidential Spokesman Ahmed Fahmy. For his part, President Hichilema asserted that his country is keen to foster cooperation with Egypt and continue consultations on Africa-related issues and challenges, particularly under the wise leadership of Sisi, to propel development efforts and maintain peace and security in Africa. Egyptian State Information Service
Bank of Zambia Exchange Rates
Currency | Buying | Selling |
---|---|---|
USD | 20.0921 | 20.1400 |
GBP | 25.0809 | 25.1488 |
EUR | 21.5889 | 21.6485 |
ZAR | 1.0631 | 1.0661 |
In International Business News Sponsored By
The euro zone entered a recession in the first quarter of this year, and economists are not optimistic for the coming months. The 20-member bloc reported gross domestic product of -0.1% for the first quarter, according to revised estimates from the region’s statistics office, Eurostat, released Thursday. In a first reading, the agency had said the euro zone grew by 0.1% over the first three months of the year. This pronouncement was adjusted down after Germany also cut its growth figures for the same period, and effectively entered a recession. Ireland also made a downward revision to its growth rate, now showing a contraction of almost 5%. Before the weak performance over January-March, the euro zone also contracted by 0.1% in the last quarter of 2022. The two consecutive quarters of negative GDP performance have also dragged the wider region into a technical recession. Read more: CNBC
US Stocks climbed Thursday as the market built on its recent gains, and traders looked ahead to key inflation data next week as well as the Federal Reserve’s latest policy announcement. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 168.59 points, or 0.5%, to close at 33,833.61. The S&P 500 traded 0.62% higher and ended the day at 4,293.93 — its highest closing level in 2023. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.02%, closing at 13,238.52. Amazon led tech shares higher after bullish analyst commentary. The e-commerce giant’s shares rose 2.5% and helped the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) climb more than 1%. Read more: CNBC
The vast majority of the world’s biggest companies have done almost nothing in the past five years to cut their planet-heating pollution enough to avoid catastrophic climate change. Large companies are either more likely to contribute to extreme levels of warming or are not disclosing their greenhouse gas emissions at all, according to a new report from ESG Book, seen by CNN. The leading sustainability data provider found that the efforts of just 22% of the world’s 500 biggest public companies by market value are aligned with the Paris Agreement, aimed at limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. That’s a measly gain from 18% of firms in 2018. Climate scientists consider a 1.5 degree rise in the average global temperature a key tipping point, beyond which the chances of extreme flooding, drought, wildfires and food shortages could increase dramatically. Almost half, or 45%, of companies are aligned with warming of at least 2.7 degrees Celsius — a disastrous level of warming that could expose billions of people to dangerously hot conditions. That’s down from 61% in 2018. Read more: CNN
For the fiscal year 2023–2024, the Tanzanian government has set aside a staggering Sh10.48 trillion ($4.4 billion) to pay down the country’s debt. The sum represents a 15% increase over the Sh9.1 trillion that the Parliament had previously approved for paying the loans that the government had obtained in the current (2022–2023) fiscal year from a variety of sources. Finance and Planning Minister Dr. Mwigulu Nchemba stated that a total of Sh10.48 trillion will be used to service the nation’s debt as he asked the Parliament to approve a budget of Sh15.94 trillion for his ministry for the fiscal year 2023–2024. The Treasury has received Sh2.854 trillion in overall funding, while “other services” have received another Sh2.315 trillion in funding. The budget committee of the parliament expressed satisfaction with the government’s debt-paying schedule. Read more: Business Insider
Zambeef, the fully integrated cold chain foods and retail business with operations in Zambia, Nigeria and Ghana provides the following update on trading. During the half year period to 31 March 2023, the Group has seen demand for its products increase, supported by a price moderation approach, resulting in volume growth across most product categories. However, lower than expected selling prices and higher input costs (which couldn’t be passed on to the consumer), including higher genset diesel costs in the first quarter of 2023, put pressure on gross margins. The cropping division was adversely impacted by a 71% drop in the price of soya beans, exacerbated by reduced yields, which was partially offset by the higher maize price. The higher maize price further exerted pressure on stockfeed margins. The operating environment was characterised by increased competition, no real growth in consumer spending and unstable macroeconomic fundamental effects, largely driven by delayed finalisation of the country’s debt restructuring. For the year ended 30 September 2023 (all in USD), revenue, adjusted EBITDA and reported profit before tax are expected to be inline with market expectations. However, gross profit is expected to be between 8% – 12% behind market expectations. Read more
In 92 trades recorded yesterday, 23,516 shares were transacted resulting in a turnover of K108,801.98. Trading activity was also recorded in AECI, CEC Zambia, PUMA, Real Estate Investments Zambia, Standard Chartered Bank Limited, Zambeef, Zanaco, ZAMEFA, Zambia Sugar and CEC Africa on the quoted tier. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) maintained its close at 8,188.98 points. The market closed on a capitalization of K76,574,830,373.94 including Shoprite Holdings and K41,794,144,933.94 excluding Shoprite Holdings.
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