Story of the Day:
Many corporates have answered the call for assistance from Zambia’s Ministry of Health during these difficult times of the COVID-19 Pandemic. On 2nd April 2020, ZCCM IH led by their CEO Mabvuto Chipata step up to the cause in a significant way by donating a Mercedes Benz ambulance to help in fight against the deadly virus. Read more
Local Business and Finance Sponsored By Liquid Telecom
Commissioner, His Excellency Nicholas Woolley has said Zambia will benefit from the G20 decision to suspend all debt repayments. He said it was also an opportunity for Zambia to suspend and reprofile its debt. He said he was happy with the role the United Kingdom was playing in this matter. Read more: Zambia Reports
Fitch Ratings sees Zambia as probably defaulting on debt as the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic worsens the southern African nation’s already stretched finances. The credit-ratings company downgraded Zambia’s debt to CC, the second lowest level outside of an actual default, joining Moody’s Investors Service that made a similar cut earlier this month. Zambia’s Eurobonds fell. Read more: Fitch Ratings
Zambia’s tourism sector is estimated to lose US$223 million from projected hunting revenues due to coronavirus (Covid-19). Read more: The Southern Times
Leaders from the Business and Private Sector in Zambia have formed a Taskforce to strengthen the country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Taskforce called the Business Coalition Council Emergency Taskforce (BCCET) comprises various industry leaders and was established as part of efforts to augment preparedness in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more: Lusaka Times
Mine Unions on the Copperbelt say efforts to engage Mopani Copper Mine Plc on its decision to place Kitwe and Mufulira plants on care and maintenance have failed despite several attempts. Read more: ZNBC
International Business and Finance Sponsored By Royal Air Charters
President Donald Trump has promised to unveil plans on Thursday to reopen the world’s largest economy following cautious moves in Europe, claiming the United States “passed the peak” of coronavirus cases. Read more: Al Jazeera
China’s economy contracted 6.8% in the first quarter of 2020 compared to a year earlier, according to government statistics released Friday. That’s even worse than the 6.5% decline that analysts polled by Reuters predicted. Read more: CNN
The world economy already faces an economic downturn worse than the Great Depression. But this could be followed by another “possibly much worse downturn”, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). World governments are giving trillions of dollars in stimulus packages to help prop up their economies. Sovereign debts that they are racking up may push the global economy into a second recession, the EIU warns. Read more: CNBC
The EU plans to help block foreign takeovers of European companies struggling with the virus downturn. It wants to allow governments to invest in weak companies, which could include some form of ownership. Read more: BBC News
Top executives at South Africa’s MTN Group have pledged nearly a third of their salaries and fees for the next three months to finance a 40 million rand ($2.2 million) emergency fund for staff affected by the coronavirus crisis. Read more: Reuters
The Kenyan parliament on Tuesday voted to lower the value-added tax rate to 14% from 16%, part of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s attempts to cushion citizens from the impact of the coronavirus crisis. Read more: MSN
Capital Markets Report Sponsored By ZCCM-IH
In 26 trades recorded yesterday, 1,431,881 shares were transacted yielding a market turnover of K713,764. A share price loss of K0.02 was recorded in Zanaco. Trading activity was also recorded in AEL Zambia, Copperbelt Energy Corporation, PUMA, ZCCM, Zambeef, Zambia Sugar and CEC Africa on the quoted tier. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) closed at 4,140.56 points, 0.16% down from its previous close of 4,147.19 points. The market closed on a capitalization of K55,989,276,360 including Shoprite Holdings and K21,750,070,380 excluding Shoprite Holdings.
Chart of the Day: