Good afternoon. Here’s what you need to know
-
Spring Meetings: Zambia to settle with bondholders soon, Finance Minister, Musokotwane says
-
Uranium project in Zambia on track – GoviEx
-
Oil price rises as US says Israel has struck Iran
Government has announced that it will soon convene a meeting with its bondholders with a view of concluding the process as soon as possible. In March this year, Zambia agreed to restructure US$3 billion in Eurobonds with its bond holders. The announcement was made by the Finance and National Planning Minister, Situmbeko Musokotwane, at the United States-Zambia bilateral meeting held on the side-lines of the ongoing Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group in Washington. Musokotwane announced that a meeting with bond holders would soon be convened with a view of concluding the process as soon as possible in his response to a question on the debt restructuring process during the meeting. The Minister also indicated that 77 percent of eligible debt had been negotiated while another 23 percent had to be negotiated, mostly with commercial creditors. Read more: Zambia Monitor
GoviEx Uranium Company says its Muntanga Uranium Project in Zambia is progressing as planned and the Company will publish the feasibility study in the second half of 2024. With an anticipated annual production capacity of 2.5 million pounds of U3O8, the project is expected to be a significant contributor to the global uranium market. According to GoviEx production will be marketed to utilities, off-takers, and potentially the spot market. Speaking in an interview with the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, GoviEx Uranium Inc. Head of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications, Isabel Vilela, said the company is on schedule to publish the Feasibility Study in the second half of this year, as anticipated. Read more: Zambian Business Times
President Hakainde Hichilema has urged the Engineering Institution of Zambia EIZ to ensure that the many contractors engaged to undertake projects are monitored for quality works that will stand the test of time. Mr. Hichilema says with the rapid increase in infrastructure development and the Constituency Development Fund CDF, now more than ever, the country needs the expertise of engineering professionals to be brought to the fore. President Hichilema says all engineering works delivered must be of acceptable standard for the benefit of the economy and the people of Zambia. President Hichilema said this in a virtual address at the 67th Engineering Institution of Zambia Annual General Meeting and Symposium being held in Livingstone. Read more: ZNBC
Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Acting Minister Mulambo Haimbe has underscored the need for Zambia and France to bolster cooperation in sectors such as tourism, education, mining and energy for mutual benefit of the citizens. Mr Haimbe said this when he received a Letter of Commission from Aly El Sahili, Honorary Consul of France. The Minister acknowledged the longstanding warm bilateral relation and cooperation between Zambia and France. He noted the Official Visits undertaken to France by President Hakainde Hichilema in May and June 2023, and further expressed gratitude to France for its role in Zambia’s successful conclusion of the debt restructuring process. Read more: ZNBC
The mining investment arm of Abu Dhabi’s most valuable company has offered to buy a majority stake in Vedanta Resources’ Zambian copper assets, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, in its drive to build an African copper mining empire. The unit of International Holding Company recently made an offer of more than $1 billion to buy a 51% stake in Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) from Indian billionaire Anil Agarwal-owned Vedanta, the sources said. The unit – International Resources Holding (IRH) – is racing to broaden its burgeoning copper mining business in Zambia after buying a 51% stake in Mopani Copper Mines in a deal worth $1.1 billion. IRH said last month it planned to bid for a stake owned by EMR Capital in Lubambe Copper Mine, which is also for sale. Read more: Business Standard
In International News
The World Bank Group and African Development Bank (AfDB) Group are partnering to provide at least 300 million people in Africa with electricity access by 2030. The World Bank Group would work to connect 250 million people to electricity through distributed renewable energy systems or the distribution grid while the African Development Bank Group would support an additional 50 million people. This is according to a statement made available to Zambia Monitor on Thursday by the World Bank. Ajay Banga, World Bank Group President, said access to electricity was a fundamental human right and was foundational to any successful development effort. Currently, 600 million Africans are estimated to lack access to electricity, creating significant barriers to health care, education, productivity, digital inclusivity, and ultimately job creation. Read more: Zambia Monitor
Oil and gold prices have jumped after US officials said an Israeli missile had struck Iran. Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose by 1.8% to $88 a barrel while gold briefly came close to a record high before falling back to nearly $2,400 an ounce. Investors have been closely watching Israel’s reaction to Iran’s direct drone and missile attack last weekend. There are concerns a worsening conflict in the Middle East could disrupt oil supplies. Oil prices had jumped by as much as 3.5% initially. However, gains receded after Iranian state media claimed that there was “no damage” in Isfahan province where there had been reports of explosions. Sharp and sustained rises in oil prices risk fuelling inflation. Countries are heavily reliant on the commodity, which is used to produce fuels such as petrol and diesel. Fuel and energy prices have been a major driver behind the higher cost of living worldwide in the past couple of years. Read more: BBC News
Netflix says its profits have soared in the first three months of this year, partly thanks to a crackdown on password sharing. The streaming giant said it added 9.3 million customers in the first quarter, bringing its total number of subscribers to almost 270 million. The company also said its profits in the first quarter jumped to more than $2.3bn. But the firm will stop reporting key subscriber numbers from next year. Announcing the decision, the firm said in a letter to shareholders: “In our early days, when we had little revenue or profit, membership growth was a strong indicator of our future potential”. It added that today, subscriber numbers have become “just one component of our growth”, asking investors to focus on its profits and revenue. Its revenue for the first quarter rose by nearly 15% year-on-year to $9.37bn. Read more: BBC News
China has written off an unspecified amount of Zimbabwe’s interest-free loans and has pledged to help the government find a way out of its ongoing debt crisis. “China attaches great importance to resolving Zimbabwe’s debt issues,” said Beijing’s ambassador to Harare, Zhou Ding. As of September 2023, Zimbabwe’s publicly guaranteed debt stood at $17.7 billion, of which $12.7 billion was external and $5 billion domestic. Most of its foreign debt was purchased from China, as it is ineligible for loans from multilateral creditors after defaulting on repayments for over 20 years. Since the fall of long-time ruler Robert Mugabe six years ago, Zimbabwe has been struggling to reach an agreement with creditors to restructure its unsustainable debt. Africa News
South Africa’s inflation fell to 5.3% year on year in March in a sign that Africa’s most industrialized economy was winning the battle to bring down prices. Headline consumer inflation stood at 5.6% in February after reaching 5.3% in January, data from the statistics agency showed on Wednesday. Even then, South Africa’s central bank which targets inflation of between 3% and 6%, is not expected to announce interest rate cuts soon. The bank has kept its main interest rate unchanged at 8.25% for some months. On Wednesday, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) cut its growth outlook for South Africa, taking its GDP growth projections for the country for 2024 to just 0.9%. Africa News
China’s fiscal stimulus is losing its effectiveness and is more of a strategy to buy time for industrial and consumption policies, S&P Global Ratings senior analyst Yunbang Xu said in a report Thursday. The analysis used growth in government spending to measure fiscal stimulus. “In our view, fiscal stimulus is a buy-time strategy that could have some longer-term benefits, if projects are focused on reviving consumption or industrial upgrades that increase value-add,” Xu said. China has set a target of around 5% GDP growth this year, a goal many analysts have said is ambitious given the level of announced stimulus. The head of the top economic planning agency said in March that China would “strengthen macroeconomic policies” and increase coordination among fiscal, monetary, employment, industrial and regional policies. High debt levels limit how much fiscal stimulus a local government can undertake, regardless of whether a city is considered a high or low-income region, the S&P report said. Read more: CNBC
Japan’s core inflation slowed in March due to mild rises in food prices while staying comfortably above the central bank’s 2% target, government data showed on Friday. The nationwide core consumer price index (CPI), which excludes fresh food items, rose 2.6% in March from a year earlier after rising 2.8% in February. It matched the median market forecast. The “core core” index, which excludes both fresh food and energy costs and is closely watched by the Bank of Japan as a key gauge of broader inflation trends, rose 2.9% after increasing 3.2% in February. It was the first time since November 2022 that the index fell below 3%. Markets are seeking clues as to when the central bank would raise rates again after it ended negative rates last month in a landmark shift away from its decade-long super-easy monetary policy. The BOJ has said a virtuous cycle of sustained, stable achievement of its 2% price target and strong wage growth was crucial for normalizing policy. Read more: CNBC
Finally, Capital Markets News
In 133 trades recorded yesterday, 32,426 shares were transacted resulting in a turnover of K207,947.10. The following share price changes were recorded yesterday: +K0.02 in CEC Zambia, -K0.02 in ZANACO, +3.82 in Pamodzi. Trading activity was also recorded in Airtel, British American Tobacco Zambia, CEC Zambia, National Breweries, PUMA, Real Estate Investments Zambia, Standard Chartered Bank Limited, Zambeef, ZAMEFA, Zambia Sugar, ZAFFICO and CEC Africa on the quoted tier. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) closed at 12,859.52 points, 0.67% higher than its previous day close at 12,773.56 points. The market closed on a capitalization of K100,156,688,223.65 including Shoprite Holdings and 65,374,002,783.65 excluding Shoprite Holdings.
14 Govt Bond trades with total face value of K105,475,000 were processed yesterday, resulting in a total turnover of K71,877,610.