Good morning. Here’s what you need to know to start your day.
- Britain agrees deals on clean energy, critical minerals with Zambia
- President Hichilema woos Israeli investors
- Janet Yellen: Credit downgrade ‘puzzling’ and ‘unwarranted’
Story of the Day
“We are the first generation to feel the impact of climate change and the last generation that can do something about it.” (Remarks by the former US President Barrack Obama at U.N. Climate Change Summit, 2014). What do we know about ESG? what does it mean? What do we need to know and do? Is Zambia and Africa at large ready to enforce ESG? Well, in a nutshell ESG stands for Environmental, Social and Governance. It is basically a framework for measuring the sustainable and societal effects of a company’s operations and investments on the host environment (Sandra Mathis, 2022). These environmental factors refer to a company’s direct impact on the environment and how it manages its resources sustainably, this can include energy efficiency, waste management and carbon emissions. Whilst Social factors depict a company’s direct effect on society and how it manages its relationships with stakeholders. This can include labour practices, human rights and community engagement. Governance on the other hand postulates a company’s internal management and decision-making processes. This includes aspects such as board composition, executive compensation and transparency. Read more
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Britain on Thursday said it had agreed deals with Zambia on clean energy and critical minerals as foreign minister James Cleverly ends a four-day visit to Africa to deepen ties. Cleverly has used the trip, which fell shortly after a coup in Niger, to seek to enhance Britain’s sway in Africa, welcoming regional talks on the Niger crisis and announcing support for Nigeria’s agriculture sector. The foreign ministry said Cleverly would agree a UK-Zambia Green Growth Compact, aimed at generating 2.5 billion pounds ($3.17 billion) of British private sector investment in Zambia’s mining, minerals and renewable energy sectors alongside 500 million pounds of government-backed investments. “The UK-Zambia Green Growth Compact and our landmark agreement on critical minerals will support investment between UK and Zambian business, creating jobs in both countries,” Cleverly said. Zambia is a major copper producer, and also has deposits of critical minerals such as cobalt, manganese and nickel. Last year Britain emphasised the importance of diversifying its supply chains in a critical mineral strategy. Read more: Reuters
President Hakainde Hichilema has called on Israeli investors to consider investing in Zambia. Mr. Hichilema says Zambia has a conducive business environment to support and promote foreign investment. President Hichilema said this during a State banquet hosted in honour of him and his delegation by the Israeli President, Isaac Herzog, at the presidential residence in Jerusalem last night. President Hichilema said Zambia is politically stable and safe for foreigners wishing to establish their business in the Central African country. Mr. Hichilema said Zambia has had peaceful transitions after general elections and he is currently the 7th President. “May I take this opportunity to invite Israeli investors to consider investing in Zambia because our country is politically stable and safe for foreign investors wishing to invest in Zambia,” said President Hichilema. Read more: Lusaka Times
President Hakainde Hichilema engaged in a private meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem to discuss matters of mutual importance between the two nations. The closed-door meeting at Misrad Rosh HaMemshala touched upon a wide range of subjects that hold significance for both countries and their respective peoples. During the meeting, President Hichilema conveyed his appreciation for the warm and cordial relations that have existed between Israel and Zambia for many years. He emphasized the importance of nurturing and further strengthening this long-standing relationship. President Hichilema also extended gratitude to President Isaac Herzog and the people of Israel for extending the invitation for his visit, expressing delight at the opportunity to hold discussions with Prime Minister Netanyahu. Read more: Lusaka Times
Ten Japanese companies are expected in Zambia this month to explore opportunities in the mining sector, authorities have revealed. The ten companies would be accompanied by the Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI), Yasutoshi Nishimura, Zambia’s Ambassador to Japan, Tobias Mulimbika, said. First Secretary for Press and Public Relations at the Zambian Mission in Japan, Faith Chilube, in a statement issued in Lusaka on Wednesday said Mulumbika revealed this during a courtesy call on Nishimura in that country. He said the delegation would include officials from the Japan Organisation for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC), International Affairs Division Metals Strategy Department, Agency for Natural Resources and Energy Mineral and Natural Resources. Read more: Zambia Monitor
Bank of Zambia Exchange Rates
Currency | Buying | Selling |
---|---|---|
USD | 19.1260 | 19.1743 |
GBP | 24.3360 | 24.3993 |
EUR | 20.9602 | 21.0208 |
ZAR | 1.0358 | 1.0386 |
In International Business News
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has defended the strength of the US economy, after the government was stripped of its top tier credit rating. Ms Yellen called the decision by Fitch, one of the three big ratings firms, “puzzling” and “entirely unwarranted”. Her remarks came as global stock markets dropped and many buyers of Treasuries, as US government debt is known, demanded higher returns. The S&P 500 ended trade about 1.4% lower, while the Nasdaq fell 2.17%. The Dow Jones also fell nearly 1%. The declines in the US followed falls in the UK and other international markets. Analysts noted that the Fitch decision was sparking some selling of risky assets. Read more: BBC News
Chinese technology shares fell after the country’s cyberspace regulator recommended limiting smartphone usage of children under 18. Shares of firms like Alibaba and video-sharing site Bilibili fell on Wednesday and saw further losses on Thursday. The proposed law would see children being only allowed to use their phones for a maximum of two hours a day.It comes four years after children in the world’s second-largest economy were subject to gaming restrictions. Read more: BBC News
Businesses see geopolitical tensions as the biggest threat to the global economy right now, according to the latest survey by Oxford Economics. The finding “confirms” that perceptions of economic risks have shifted significantly for businesses, said Jamie Thompson, head of macro scenarios and author of the survey. “Geopolitical tensions are now the main focus of concern, both in the near term and the medium term,” he noted. Around 36% of businesses polled view geopolitical tensions as top risks currently — such as those related to issues over Taiwan, South Korea, and Russia-NATO. In contrast, a similar survey in April found that nearly half the respondents viewed either a marked tightening in credit supply or a full-blown financial crisis as the top risk in the near term. The latest third quarter 2023 Global Risk Survey covered 127 businesses from July 6-27 this year. Read more: CNBC
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon told CNBC on Wednesday that lawsuits against the giant bank related to its former client, the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, have impacted its brand equity “a little bit.” “But we banked Jeffrey Epstein and I’m so sorry that we did. I wish we hadn’t,” Dimon told CNBC’s Leslie Picker. “Had we known then what we know today, we obviously wouldn’t have.” “And yes, we make terrible mistakes sometimes and we apologize for it,” Dimon later said. JPMorgan in June agreed to settle for $290 million a New York federal court lawsuit by an Epstein accuser alleging that the bank enabled Epstein’s sex trafficking of young women during the years he kept millions of dollars on deposit there, from 1998 to 2013. Other victims of Epstein will share in that settlement, in which the bank did not admit wrongdoing. Read more: CNBC
Uganda has recorded the lowest inflation rate in the past 15 months because of falling commodity prices, particularly those of food and petrol. The annual headline inflation rate for the nation, which takes into account items in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), dropped to 3.9% over the past 12 months from 4.9% the year before, according to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (Ubos), which noted this on Monday. Uganda’s annual inflation rate of 3.1% in February 2022, is the lowest inflation rate the nation has seen up until now. According to Ubos, over the same time period, annual core inflation, which excludes volatile goods like energy and gasoline from the CPI, slowed to 3.8% in July from the 4.8% recorded in the year that ended in June. Additionally, it hasn’t been this low since April 2022, when it was 4.3 %. Both the yearly headline inflation and the annual core inflation are now below the Bank of Uganda’s (BoU) policy aim of keeping inflation in Uganda under 5%. Read more: Business Insider
In 113 trades recorded yesterday 32,355 shares were transacted resulting in a turnover of K128,982.30. A price loss of K0.01 was recorded in CEC Zambia. Trading activity was also recorded in Chilanga Cement, Pamodzi, PUMA, Standard Chartered Bank Limited, Zambeef, Zambia Breweries, ZANACO and Zambia Sugar as well as CEC Africa on the quoted tier. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) closed at 8,362.07 points, 0.04% lower than its previous close at 8,365.80 points. The market closed on a capitalization of K77,330,221,089.50 including Shoprite Holdings and K42,547,535,649.50 excluding Shoprite Holdings.