Story of the Day:
ZCCM IH in collaboration with Karma Mining Services and Rural Development Limited in Consolidated Gold Company Limited has established a gold testing laboratory following the group’s announcements that it intended to diversify into other commodities through strategic partnerships. Read more
Local Business and Finance Sponsored By Liquid Telecom
In view of the coronavirus (COVID-19), MTN Zambia has zero-rated mobile money transfers up to K150 and has doubled the transaction limits to encourage more people to use digital platforms rather than paper money which aids in the spread of the virus. The company is believed to be working closely with the Bank of Zambia. Read more: IT News Africa
The Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) has so far collected about K480 million in taxes under the standardised motor vehicle duty since inception in 2018. In 2018, ZRA introduced the standardised motor vehicle duty to give power and control to the final owners of the vehicles. Read more: Zambia Daily Mail
Zamtel has partnered with Mount Meru for the use of Digital Mobile Payment platforms, ZamPay and Zamtel Kwacha.
The partnership will see all Zamtel mobile money customers paying for fuel using Zamtel Kwacha. Read more: Zambia Daily Mail
Ministry of Energy Permanent Secretary Trevor Kaunda says government is still analyzing whether or not any possible fuel price adjustments will be made in view of the fluctuating oil price on the international market, which has dropped to a five-year low. Read more: News Diggers
Former Finance Minister Felix Mutati says Zambia’s huge volume of debt serving has contributed to the kwacha’s rapid depreciation because it is harvesting a lot of foreign exchange from the market. The kwacha has sharply depreciated against major convertible currencies in the last three weeks, easing to a new all-time low of K16.52 per dollar by Tuesday. Read more: News Diggers
The Livingstone Tourism Association – LTA has written and proposed to the labour commissioner seeking modalities on the possibility of sending non-essential employees in the tourism industry on unpaid or forced leave as the industry is battling with the impact of Covid-19. LTA Chairman George Sikumba, said the sector has been badly hit by the economic effects of Covid-19 as very few and sometimes no tourist at all are making their way to visit tourism facilities. Read more: Zambian Business Times
KPMG Featured Article
The purpose of this article is to provide a comprehensive assessment of Zambia’s capital markets. Its main objectives are to (i) suggest products characteristics suitable for Zambian investors such as Government-regulated, professionally managed, easy transfer of ownership, unlimited Life and Continuous existence and sticking to a Solid Strategy. Read more
International Business and Finance Sponsored By Royal Air Charters
Africa risks being one of the continents most affected by the current coronavirus pandemic. The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa is projecting growth less by 1.8% by the end of 2020. The fairly rapid spread of the disease in Africa could force governments to implement drastic measures, which would trigger a recession. Read more: Africa News
The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) cut its main lending rate by 100 basis points to 5.25% on Thursday in a surprise unanimous decision, citing a dire local and global economic outlook due to the deepening impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Read more: Reuters
The Bank of England has announced that it is cutting interest rates by a further 15bp taking the effective rate to 0.1%. The bank’s monetary policy committee also voted to buy £200 billion ($230 billion) worth of UK government bonds and investment-grade corporate bonds. The decision sent the pound soaring more than 0.5% from 35 year lows. Read more: Business Insider
Cryptocurrencies saw a sharp bounce higher after violent selling in the past two weeks despite equity markets not showing big moves to the upside. The market capitalization or value of the entire cryptocurrency market rose around $23.8 billion over the past 24 hours to $175.98 billion, with Bitcoin rising 16%, according to data from Coinmarketcap.com. Read more: CNBC
Given the rapid deterioration in the Australian economic outlook as the coronavirus causes the closure of borders and restrictions on movement, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now forecast the sharpest annual GDP contraction since the great depression of the 1920s. Read more: Bloomberg
The next round of Brexit negotiations has been cancelled as expectation grows in Brussels and London that the standstill transition period will be extended beyond its December 2020 deadline owing to coronavirus disruption. Read more: Financial Times
Capital Markets Report
In 3 trades recorded yesterday, 3,200 shares were transacted yielding a market turnover of K4,780. Trading activity was recorded in Copperbelt Energy Corporation and Lafarge. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) maintained its close at 4,228.43 points, as there were no share price movements. The market closed on a capitalization of K57,223,768,167 including Shoprite Holdings and K22,984,562,187 excluding Shoprite Holdings.
Chart of the Day: