Story of the Day
The High Commissioner of India to Zambia, HE Ashok Kumar, visited the Kagem emerald mine in Lufwanyama District last week as part of his official tour to the Copperbelt Province. The Envoy viewed the mine’s pit and sort house during a guided tour by General Manager Sanjeev Kumar, who explained processes involved at Kagem, believed to be the world’s single largest producing emerald mine, owned by London-based Gemfields in partnership with the Zambian government’s Industrial Development Corporation (IDC). Read more
Local Business and Finance Sponsored By Liquid Intelligent Technologies
Zambian inflation slowed to a two-and-a-half year-low in April, easing pressure on the central bank’s monetary policy committee to raise interest rates when it meets next month. Consumer prices rose 11.5% from a year earlier, compared with 13.1% in March, interim Statistician-General Mulenga Musepa told reporters Wednesday in Lusaka, the capital. Food-price growth slowed to 14.1% in April, compared with 15.3% in the previous month, and non-food inflation decelerated to 8.2% from 10.3%. Prices climbed 0.7% in the month. Read more: Bloomberg
Copperbelt Energy Corporation (CEC) has resorted to arbitration to resolve the US$170 million debt which Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) owes it, CEC managing director Owen Silavwe has said. The debt, which stood at US$144 million in 2020, has now swelled to US$170 million because it has continued to accrue interest and grid service connection charges. Read more: Zambia Daily Mail
The Kwacha is anticipated to trade steady in the near term supported by improved supply from corporates converting for their month-end tax obligations while copper prices on the London Metal exchange (LME) rose to US$9,903 a tonne. On Monday, the local unit traded in a tight band as United States (US) dollar demand from corporate importers and other market players gradually built up outweighing foreign currency inflows. Read more Zambia Daily Mail
President Hakainde Hichilema has launched the Public Private Dialogue Forum-PPDF, which will promote economic development through public-private partnerships. The Head of State said the social and economic development of the country cannot be left to government alone, as it is not possible for government to deliver development on its own because it does not have all it takes to reconstruct the economy therefore the need to engage the private sector. Read more: Zambia Business Times
The Black Mountain Community Empowerment Committee has received 1.1 million Kwacha from the consortium operating at the ore rich black mountain in Kitwe for the empowerment of cooperatives in the District. And Kitwe District Commissioner Lawrence Mwanza has flagged off training for the first 75 Cooperatives to benefit from the funds. Read more: ZNBC
International Business and Finance Sponsored By Agricultural and Commercial Society of Zambia
U.S. GDP unexpectedly declined at a 1.4% annualized pace in the first quarter, marking an abrupt reversal for an economy coming off its best performance since 1984, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. The negative growth rate missed even the subdued Dow Jones estimate of a 1% gain for the quarter, but the initial estimate for Q1 was the worst since the pandemic-induced recession in 2020. GDP measures the output of goods and services in the U.S. for the three-month period. Read more: CNBC
Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei announced Thursday that first quarter revenue fell by nearly 14% from a year ago, while its profit margin more than halved. “In 2022, we still face a challenging and complicated business environment.” The company reported 131 billion yuan ($20.63 billion) in revenue for the first quarter. That’s down by 13.9% from the same period last year, and a more than 27% decline from the fourth quarter of 2021. First quarter profit margin of 4.3% was less than half the 11.1% reported a year earlier. Read more: CNBC
President Biden is asking Congress for $33bn in military, economic and humanitarian assistance to support Ukraine – although he insisted that the US was not “attacking Russia”. Mr Biden said it was “critical” for US lawmakers to approve the deal, which he said would help Ukraine defend itself. The proposal includes more than $20bn in military aid, $8.5bn in economic aid and $3bn in humanitarian aid. “It’s not cheap,” Mr Biden said on Thursday. Read more: BBC News
A drop in online sales and rising costs have helped to push Amazon to its first quarterly loss since 2015. Online sales at the e-commerce giant slipped 3% in the first three months of the year, as the boom to its business from the pandemic starts to fade, the firm said on Thursday. Meanwhile, Apple warned its sales could be hit by up to $8bn following disruptions from lockdowns in China. Both firms face supply chain issues and the impact of the war in Ukraine. Read more: BBC News
Africa’s ‘Big 5’ private wealth markets (South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, Morocco, and Kenya) account for over 50% of the continent’s total private wealth, according to the latest 2022 Africa Wealth Report. Data from the report reveals that the total private wealth currently held on the African continent is USD 2.1 trillion and is expected to rise by 38% over the next 10 years. The report also noted that the creation of wealth and the flow of capital across the continent would be linked to the performance of frontier economies, which will be driven by the need to diversify wealth-creating sources. Read more: Business Insider
Airbnb won’t require most staffers to return to the office — ever. The company told employees Thursday that they can permanently work remotely and can relocate anywhere within the country they currently work. Doing so won’t negatively impact compensation, the company said, meaning it will not adjust salaries downward if an employee opts to move to a city where the cost of living is lower. Read more: CNN
Capital Markets Report
In 60 trades recorded yesterday, 33,254 shares were transacted resulting in a turnover of K93,474. A share price gain was recorded in Real Estate Investment Zambia of K0.10. Trading activity was also recorded in Airtel, Bata, Copperbelt Energy Corporation, Investrust, Zambia Reinsurance, Standard Chartered Zambia, Zambeef, Zanaco and Zambia Sugar. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) closed at 6,928.11 points, 0.02% up from its previous close of 6,926.80 points. The market closed on a capitalization of K70,972,164,497 including Shoprite Holdings and K36,189,479,057 excluding Shoprite Holdings.