Story of the Day
The Board is pleased to advise that it has appointed Mr. Sonny Zulu as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Standard Chartered Bank Zambia Plc effective 1st July 2022. Mr Kelvin Bwalya – Executive Director Finance and Administration will be acting as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Standard Chartered Bank Zambia Plc in the interim. Sonny has been on a Long Term Assignment in the UAE since 2018 and is currently the Head of Consumer Private and Business Banking (CPBB). Sonny brings with him 18 years of Banking experience and has successfully demonstrated both technical and leadership competencies in the roles he has held. Read more
Local Business and Finance Sponsored By Liquid Intelligent Technologies
Zimbabwe and Zambia are preparing for a tripartite meeting with South Africa to deliberate on legacy indivisible assets jointly owned by the two northern neighbours through the Emerged Railways Properties (ERP) in South Africa. Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Felix Mhona led a delegation from his Ministry and National Railways of Zimbabwe officials to a meeting with their Zambian counterparts in Livingstone, across the Zambezi River yesterday. The council of ministers meeting was meant to prepare for next week’s tripartite meeting with South Africa in Victoria Falls. The legacy indivisible assets include vast mineral rights covering close to two million hectares of land in South Africa left to Zimbabwe and Zambia by the former coloniser, Cecil John Rhodes. Read more: Chronicle
The Bank of Zambia-BOZ is on track to hit the $100m end of year 2022 target it has set. BOZ has however been challenged to be more ambitious and aggressive to target a reserve chest of about $1 billion worth of gold for it to be tangible enough to be able to help stabilize the kwacha. In response to a question on the current gold reserves the country has, BOZ Deputy Governor-Operations Dr. Francis Chipimo said the bank currently has US$63 worth of gold bullion reserves. Read more: Zambian Business Times
Now that Zambia has been opened up for business, it is set to experience an economic boom, European Union (EU) Ambassador to Zambia Jacek Jankowski has said. Mr Jankowski says Zambia is a beautiful investment destination which needs the support of the EU. He was speaking on Thursday during a gala dinner for the EU-Zambia Forum, which took place during the week. Read more: Zambia Daily Mail
Government will start issuing mining licences online to enable citizens to pay their rates and taxes virtually. Cabinet Office Management Development Division Permanent Secretary Kusobile Kamwambi says the innovation will ensure efficiency and effectiveness in service delivery. Ms Kamwambi said this yesterday during the validation meeting on implementation of the electronic-Government Plan for 2022 – 2026. Read more: Zambia Daily Mail
International Business and Finance Sponsored By Agricultural and Commercial Society of Zambia
Governments need to subsidise the cost of food and energy for the poorest members of society, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has told the BBC. People around the world are struggling with the rising cost of living. Kristalina Georgieva said support needs to be provided “in a very targeted manner, preferably by providing subsidies directly to people”. Many governments are providing some help but critics argue it’s not enough. Read more: BBC News
Stock futures rose early on Monday after the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell for its 8th straight week amid a broader market sell-off. Futures on the Dow Industrial Average gained 245 points, or 0.78%. S&P 500 futures added 1.07% and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 1.19%. The moves came after the S&P 500 on Friday dipped into bear market territory on an intraday basis. While the benchmark was down 20% at one point, it did not close in a bear market after a late-day comeback. Read more: CNBC
In a move to raise its economic profile and create another counterbalance to China within Asia, the United States announced on Monday the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework with Asian partners including Australia, Japan and the Republic of Korea. It’s a broad plan designed to help expand the U.S.′ “economic leadership” in the Indo-Pacific region. The group wants to set international rules on the digital economy, supply chains, decarbonization and regulations applying to workers. U.S. President Joe Biden has said tackling inflation is a priority and this framework is designed to help lower costs by making supply chains more resilient in the longer term. Read more: CNBC
Hyundai Motor Group said on Sunday it would invest an additional $5 billion in the United States by 2025 to strengthen collaboration with U.S. firms in advanced technology. The investments, announced during a visit to Seoul by President Joe Biden, are for robotics, urban air mobility, autonomous driving and artificial intelligence, the group said. Hyundai Motor Group, which houses Hyundai Motor Coand Kia Corp, on Friday announced plans to invest $5.5 billion in Georgia to build electric vehicle (EV) and battery facilities. Read more: Reuters
Capital Markets Report
In 52 trades recorded on Friday, 9,944 shares were transacted resulting in a turnover of K39,727. Trading activity was recorded in British American Tobacco Zambia, Copperbelt Energy Corporation, Investrust, Chilanga Cement, Standard Chartered Zambia, ZCCM and Zambeef. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) maintained its close at 6,786.85 points, as there were no share price movements. The market closed on a capitalization of K70,473,502,698 including Shoprite Holdings and K35,690,817,258 excluding Shoprite Holdings.