Good morning. Here’s what you need to know to start your day.
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HH dates Ukraine & Russia
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Bank of England set to raise rates to 4.75% as inflation slow to fall
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The bond market recorded a 99% to 1% on the equity market.
Story of the Day
Eze, a B2B marketplace that connects global electronic wholesalers, allowing them to trade devices in large quantities with real-time market data, has raised $3.7 million in an oversubscribed seed round. Founded by Joshua Nzewi and David Iya in 2020, Eze directly connects distributors and retail stores of used smartphones, mostly iPhones, and other electronics, including laptops and tablets, with electronics suppliers, providing access to an extensive inventory from over a hundred wholesalers and manufacturers. Currently, traders in the B2B space use inefficient means to trade, such as WhatsApp and WeChat, which results in poor distribution, numerous unneeded middlemen, pricing fragmentation, zero quality control, and rampant fraud. Read more
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called upon the delegation of African leaders to raise the issue of political prisoners with Russian President Vladimir Putin during their upcoming visit to Russia on Saturday. Zelenskyy emphasized that the release of these prisoners would be a significant and impactful step towards peace. The group of African leaders, hailing from Comoros, Senegal, South Africa, Zambia, Egypt, the Republic of Congo, and Uganda, arrived in Ukraine as part of a peace mission aimed at bringing an end to the nearly 16-month-long conflict between Ukraine and Russia. During a closed-door meeting, President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, along with the four other African heads of state and government, joined President Zelenskyy at a news conference to discuss the purpose of their visit. President Ramaphosa acknowledged the negative impact of the ongoing conflict on Africa, highlighting the potential disruptions to food and fertilizer deliveries from Russia and Ukraine, which are crucial to many African nations. Read more: Lusaka Times
President Hakainde Hichilema, along with six other African leaders, is currently in Russia to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin as part of the Africa Peace Mission. The purpose of their visit is to engage President Putin in finding a solution to end the conflicts between Russia and Ukraine. Kennedy Kalunga, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Media, stated that the Africa Peace Initiative (API) is motivated by the humanitarian crisis and far-reaching consequences caused by the conflict. The disruptions to Africa’s commodity supply chains, rising costs of grain and fertilizer, food insecurity, and loss of life are some of the implications that have prompted President Hichilema to embrace the API. The initiative aims to create a conducive environment for economic and social prosperity. Kalunga highlighted that President Hichilema, who recently assumed the chairmanship of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and will assume the chairmanship of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Organ on Politics, Defence, and Security Cooperation in August, will coordinate peace initiatives in the region. Read more: Lusaka Times
Government says it has spent a total of K14.9 billion on developmental programmes, including debt servicing in the month of May, 2023. Out of the total expenditure, K688.2 million went towards implementation of various developmental programmes and general operations. Other expenditures in the month under review included K314.9 million for road infrastructure, a total of K8.2 billion for debt service and other liabilities. The treasury used K3.7 billion for the public service wage bill, and K1.9 billion for transfers, subsidies and social benefits. In a statement on Friday, Finance and National Planning Minister, Situmbeko Musokwane, said from the K1.9 billion under the transfers and subsidies category, K731.9 million went to Social Cash Transfer programme. Read more: Zambia Monitor
Speaker of National assembly, Nelly Mutti, has again ordered Finance and National Planning Minister, Situmbeko Musokotwane, to render a detailed report on how the K65 million forfeited to the state was used. The minister was advised to provide explanations next week, Wednesday. Mutti on Friday ruled that Musokotwene should issue a detailed statement. She said this was because the matter was still attracting too much attention both in parliament and with the members of the public even after the minister issued a ministerial statement on how the money was disbursed on Tuesday last week. Read more: Zambia Monitor
Mwembeshi Resources Limited has disclosed that it has made tremendous progress towards resuming full scale copper production and has so far invested over USD $50 million in the development of the Kangaluwi mine in the lower Zambezi National park area. Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, Mwembeshi Resources spokesperson Oliver Shalala explained that the over $50 million has been invested towards the construction of the road to the mining site, connection of the mine to the power line, mineral explorations and the equipment that have so far been purchased for the mine. Government, through the Zambia Environmental Management Agency – ZEMA, ordered the suspension of all mining operations in the Lower Zambezi National Park which has the capacity to contribute to Government’s 3 million tons target by 2031. ZEMA cited non-compliance with the conditions as the reason behind the temporal suspension, this was outlined in a letter issued to Mwembeshi Resources Limited. Read more: Zambian Business Times
Bank of Zambia Exchange Rates
Currency | Buying | Selling |
---|---|---|
USD | 19.3111 | 19.3598 |
GBP | 24.7511 | 24.8212 |
EUR | 21.1380 | 21.1990 |
ZAR | 1.0615 | 1.0645 |
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The Bank of England looks set to raise interest rates by a quarter point to a 15-year high of 4.75% on June 22, its 13th straight rate rise as it fights unexpectedly sticky inflation that risks making it a global outlier. Investors this week bet the Bank of England might hike rates as high as 6% this year – well above where the U.S. Federal Reserve or the European Central Bank are expected to go, and a level not seen in Britain since 2000. BoE Governor Andrew Bailey told a parliament committee on Tuesday inflation was taking “a lot longer than expected” to come down and the labour market was “very tight”. Read more: Reuters
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Thursday that there are indicators of economic stability in Ghana, including lower inflation, more international reserves, and less erratic currency rates. The IMF released a statement at the conclusion of a week-long visit to Ghana as part of ongoing obligations under the $3 billion loan package that was authorized in May. After its finances collapsed last year, the West African nation is attempting to restructure $20 billion of its approximately $30 billion foreign debt via the Common Framework program of the Group of 20. “In discussing progress on the debt restructuring operations, we reiterated that timely restructuring agreements with creditors are essential to secure the expected benefits of the Fund-supported program,” the IMF relayed via a statement. The international lender also stated that the first formal program review is expected this autumn. Read more: Business Insider
Chinese President Xi Jinping called Bill Gates “an old friend” and said he hoped they could cooperate in a way that would benefit both China and the United States, in Xi’s first meeting with a foreign entrepreneur in years. In a meeting at Beijing’s Diaoyutai state guest house, where China’s leaders have traditionally received senior foreign visitors, Xi said he was very happy to see the Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist after three years, and that Gates was the first American friend he had met this year. “I often say the foundation of US-China relations lies with its people. I place my hopes on the American people,” a video published by state broadcaster CCTV showed Xi as saying. “With the current global situation, we can carry out various activities beneficial to our two countries and people, activities that benefit humanity as a whole,” he said. Read more: Al Jazeera
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday met with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang and top diplomat Wang Yi in Beijing on a high-stakes diplomatic mission to cool U.S.-China tensions that have overshadowed geopolitics in recent months. The trip by Blinken makes him the highest-level American official to visit China since Joe Biden became U.S. president and the first U.S. secretary of state to make the trip in nearly five years. Blinken had “candid, substantive, and constructive talks” with Qin, a U.S. State Department spokesperson said in a statement Sunday. He raised concerns as well as “opportunities to explore cooperation,” and he emphasized the importance of open communication, according to the statement. Read more: CNBC
In the battle of opposites between the bond market and equity market on the Capital markets, we see how the two performed in the third week of June 2023. The bond market recorded a 99% to 1% on the equity market. Taking a look back around this time last year we see the bond market recorded a 60% to 40% on the equity market. Regarding the equity market Chilanga Cement recorded the highest turnover during the week. Read more
In 43 trades recorded on Friday, 137,444 shares were transacted resulting in a turnover of K220,680.62. Trading activity was recorded in CEC Zambia, Chilanga Cement, Standard Chartered Bank Limited, ZCCM, Zambeef, Zanaco as well as CEC Africa on the quoted tier. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) maintained its close at 8,235.00 points. The market closed on a capitalization of K76,777,153,106.90 including Shoprite Holdings and K41,994,467,666.90 excluding Shoprite Holdings.
Picture of the Day