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- ZDA records 173 investment ventures worth US$14.5 billion
- IMF, Argentina reach staff deal on loan reviews to unlock $7.5 billion
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In the third week of July 2023, the bond market recorded a 95% score to 5% on the equity market
Story of the Day
After Namibia’s parliament passed a bill in June which aims to legalise and establish regulations for virtual assets, including cryptocurrency, the bill has been enacted into law by the southern African nation. The Namibian government has begun the process of setting up a regulatory authority to oversee the virtual asset industry, acting on the provisions of one of the major mandates of the newly passed law. The authority will be responsible for licensing virtual asset service providers and overseeing, supervising, and monitoring activities related to the provision of virtual asset services. Additionally, according to the law, individuals or entities engaging in virtual asset services without proper registration with the regulatory authority may face penalties of up to N$10 million in fines, imprisonment for a maximum period of 10 years, or both. The bill also aims to ensure consumer protection, prevent market abuse and money laundering. Read more
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Zambia’s traditional exports earnings have decreased by 2.3 percent to K10.7 billion in June 2023 from K11.0 billion the previous month. In terms of share in total exports, traditional exports accounted for 64.5 percent during the month under review. Addressing journalists in Lusaka on Thursday, Zambia Statistics Agency (ZamStats) Interim Statistician General, Mulenga Musepa, said export earnings from refined copper in June decreased by 2.5 percent to K10.6 billion from K10.8 billion the previous month. Musepa said copper export volumes during the month of June 2023 decreased by 2.9 percent to 66.3 thousand tonnes from 68.2 thousand tonnes in May. He said copper prices on the London Metal Exchange (LME) market for the corresponding months increased by 1.8 percent to US$8,386.2 per tonne in June 2023 from US$8,234.2 per tonne in May 2023. Read more: Zambia Monitor
A 2023 Southern Africa Economic Outlook has cautioned the Bank of Zambia (BoZ) to remain vigilant in ensuring financial sector stability given the banking sector’ large exposure to government securities and associated potential risks. The Outlook, launched this week by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and analyses the recent economic trends and developments in Southern Africa, indicated that banks’ exposure to sovereign risks had increased in the region. It stated that the banking system had grown increasingly exposed to government debt in countries such as Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe, placing additional stress on financial stability. Read more: Zambia Monitor
Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) has disclosed that it registered 173 investment ventures in the first half of 2023 with an investment value of US$ 14.5 billion. Addressing journalists during the half year media briefing, Agency Director General Albert Halwampa said this was in comparison to156 investment ventures recorded during the same period in 2022, with an investment of US$ 1.3 billion, representing an increase of 1,015.4 percent. Mr. Halwampa revealed that 15, 525 jobs were recorded from the 173 investment ventures, compared to 11, 434 jobs from the 156 investment ventures recorded in the same period last year, reflecting a percentage increase of 35.8%. “The main contributing sectors included Energy, Construction and Manufacturing with the highest investment in energy worth US$ 9.1 billion, followed by construction with US$654 million and manufacturing with US$345 million. I am glad to report that the Agency exceeded its target in both projected investments and projected jobs by 827.6% and 155% respectively,” Mr. Halwampa stated. Read more: Money FM
Russia is exploring ways of partnering with Zambia to produce batteries for Electric Vehicles -EV. Russian President, Vladmir Putin says the Russian motor vehicle industry will look at forming joint ventures with Zambia for production of EV batteries. Mr. Putin says his country and Zambia have enjoyed warm bilateral ties for a long time. The Russian President was speaking after Zambian Foreign Affairs and International Corperation Minister Stanley Kakubo gave remarks to the Heads of State Summit at the Russia – Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum in Saint Petersburg, Russia. And, Mr. Kakubo who is representing President Hakainde Hichilema acknowledged the warm relations between Zambia and Russia which date back to the pre-independence era. He told the meeting that Zambia remains committed to promoting peace, security and stability as a catalyst and pre-requisite for socio-economic development. Read more: ZNBC
Finance and National Planning Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane says government has merely added the carry over funds from the unutilized 2022 Constituency Development Fund of 298 million Kwacha under the component of community based projects. He says a total of 4.4 billion Kwacha was allocated for CDF in the 2023 budget which caters for three components of CDF which are provision of free Education, Empowerment and Community projects. Dr Musokotwane says 2.7 billion Kwacha was allocated to Community Projects in 2023, which will now be supplemented with the un utilized 298 Million kwacha. He said total amount which will now be available for the Community Projects under now is over 2.9 Billion kwacha. Speaking during a press briefing in Lusaka, Dr Musokotwane stressed that no errors were passed in the National Assembly which unanimously approved the 11.3 Billion Kwacha supplementary budget. Read more: ZNBC
The Government of Zambia, through the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry (MCTI) has signed an agreement with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) to modernize customs procedures using the Automated System for Customs Data (ASYCUDA). The ASYCUDA is an integrated customs management system for international trade and transport operations in a modern automated environment. It has advanced software applications which are designed and developed for customs administrations and the trade community to comply with international standards when fulfilling import, export and transit related procedures. The Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) is a key beneficiary of the system which is being provided under the MCTI Zambia Border Posts Upgrading (ZBPUP) Project, funded under the 11th European Development Fund, COMESA Trade Facilitation Programme. The ASYCUDA support to ZRA is valued at €548,000 and will involve strengthening of existing automated customs processes through harmonisation of clearance processes in all customs offices and ensuring that there is adherence to the agreed customs and trade facilitation principles and procedures. Read more: Africa Business Communities
The Democratic Republic of Congo has advanced a payment of $15m to Zambia for the supply of mealie meal. Defence Minister, Ambrose Lufuma who disclosed this to ZNBC News in an interview says this is aside the demand from Kenya and Tanzania of 1 million metric tonnes of maize each. Mr. Lufuma said following the demand by the country’s neighbours and domestic market, the defence force led by the Zambia National Service is now in the process of acquiring land in all the ten provinces to boost the production of maize. He said the defence force is already in talks with the ministry of agriculture to acquire more land for increased production. Read more: ZNBC
Energy Minister Peter Kapala says government is looking at increasing the capacity of the TAZAMA pipeline by at least 30 percent. In an interview, Thursday, Kapala said his ministry was engaging TAZAMA to speed up the procurement process of the Drag Reducing Agent, a chemical required to increase pipeline capacity. He said the current pipeline capacity was not able to deliver all the required volumes of low Sulphur diesel. “The situation is that the pipeline cannot deliver all the required volume and so we are working on some ways of increasing some capacity. Read more: News Diggers
Bank of Zambia Exchange Rates
Currency | Buying | Selling |
---|---|---|
USD | 18.5565 | 18.6058 |
GBP | 23.8488 | 23.9197 |
EUR | 20.4010 | 20.4590 |
ZAR | 1.0481 | 1.0517 |
In International Business News
The International Monetary Fund said on Friday that it has reached a staff-level agreement with Argentina to unlock about $7.5 billion and complete the fifth and sixth reviews of the struggling country’s $44 billion loan program. The agreement, which still needs IMF Executive Board approval, eases some program requirements because a devastating drought has created a “very challenging” economic environment in Argentina, causing some end-June financial targets to be missed. Reuters first reported that the agreement would combine the fifth and sixth reviews of Argentina’s IMF program — a move that provides additional loan funds sooner. The IMF said its board would meet to consider the agreement in the second half of August. Read more: CNN
China is preparing to announce new stimulus for its stumbling economy after the vast factory sector contracted for a fourth straight month, and a gauge of activity in its services sector slipped to a seven month low. The Chinese government is holding a press conference at 3 a.m. ET (3 p.m. local) in Beijing to discuss “measures to restore and expand consumption.” It will be attended by top economic officials and representatives of various ministries. The official manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), which measures activity level in the manufacturing sector, came in at 49.3 in July, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday. That result was slightly up compared with 49 in June but the index has nonetheless contracted each month since April. A PMI reading above 50 indicates expansion, while anything below that level shows contraction. The official non-manufacturing PMI, which looks at activities in the services and construction industries, fell to 51.5 from 53.2 in June. That is the lowest rate since December, when the non-manufacturing PMI hit the weakest level since February 2020 at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Read more: CNN
Italy made an “improvised and atrocious” decision in joining China’s Belt and Road (BRI) initiative, defence minister Guido Crosetto has said. Mr Crosetto claimed the initiative had done little to boost Italy’s exports, making China the only winner. China has previously said both nations have seen “fruitful results” as a result of the BRI. Italy became the first developed economy to join the BRI in 2019 – a move criticised by its Western allies. The global investment programme envisions connecting China with Europe and beyond through rebuilding the old Silk Road trade route. “The decision to join the [new] Silk Road was an improvised and atrocious act” that increased Chinese exports to Italy without having the same effect on Italian exports to China, Mr Crosetto told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. Read more: BBC News
The 66th session of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Regional Commission for Africa(CAF) has agreed to create bankable investment projects among African countries. The decision was made during the meeting which held in Pointe Aux Piments, Mauritius, according to a statement issued by Naomi Mweemba, Zambia’s First Secretary for Press in France. Mweemba said the meeting resolved that this would be done through embracing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement for increased value addition and to break barriers related to trade to foster the free movement of goods and services on the continent. She said the conference proposed that the tourism sector needs to hold rich and abundant biodiversity and carbon credits to finance Africa’s tourism industry and the much-needed infrastructure for sustainable development. “During a panel discussion on Rethinking Tourism Africa, the panelists collectively agreed on the need to develop creative and innovative strategies through private partnerships with the sector to finance infrastructure,” Mweemba said. Read more: Zambia Monitor
A seven-point declaration was adopted by African leaders gathered in the capital city of Tanzania; Dar es Salaam, this week and might outline how young contributions to development would evolve in the future. The Human Capital Development Summit focused on the lack of employment options, particularly for recent graduates. More than a dozen leaders and development collaborators from all around the continent attended. In a statement read aloud by Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu on Wednesday, all leaders agreed that building human capital was essential to ensuring equitable and sustainable prosperity in Africa. “Investment in human beings through quality education, healthcare, nutrition, job creation, and skills development is necessary for improved social and economic outcomes,” President Samia said. Read more: Business Insider
Shares of Alphabet’s stock jumped 10% this week after the company reported second quarter earnings that showed growth despite a tough ad market. Share price for the Google parent company reached $132.58 as of Friday’s market close, representing its highest close price in more than a year. Google has faced a lot of noise this year around the health of its core search business, due to a slumping digital ad market and the longer-term potential for artificial intelligence chatbots to take traffic. But, its second quarter earnings report Tuesday, the company showed it has any numbers of ways to succeed despite those very real challenges. Among growth, revenue rose 7% to $74.6 billion from $69.7 billion in the year-earlier period. Online advertising, which has been a difficult market for the past year, remains slow because of economic concerns and corporate cost cutting. Google’s ad revenue only increased 3.3% from a year earlier, but that’s an improvement from the first quarter, when ad revenue fell. And it came after Snap’s second-quarter report issued a disappointing forecast, sending the stock down almost 20%. Google’s YouTube and Cloud units also showed revenue growth despite competition. Read more: CNBC
A new regional cross-border payment system recently implemented by Southeast Asian nations could deepen financial integration among participants, bringing the ASEAN bloc closer to its goal of economic cohesion. The program, which allows residents to pay for goods and services in local currencies using a QR code, is now active in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore. The Philippines is expected to join soon. That’s according to each country’s respective central bank. Read more: CNBC
Three weeks into the month of July 2023, trading on the Lusaka Securities Exchange we take a look at how the equity and bond market traded against each other. The bond market recorded a 100% score to 0% on the equities market. While in the third week of July 2023, the bond market recorded a 95% score to 5% on the equity market. Regarding the equity market Chilanga Cement recorded the highest turnover during the week. Read more
In 53 trades recorded on Friday 10,253 shares were transacted resulting in a turnover of K36,497.25. A share price loss of K0.08 was recorded in Zambeef. Trading activity was also recorded in Chilanga Cement, ZCCM, Zambia Reinsurance and ZANACO as well as CEC Africa on the quoted tier. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) closed at 8,361.81 points, 0.07% lower than its previous close at 8,367.33 points. The market closed on a capitalization of K77,329,091,885.54 including Shoprite Holdings and K42,546,406,445.54 excluding Shoprite Holdings