Story of the Day
Zambia’s leading vehicle distributor and dealer, Toyota Zambia Ltd, has rebranded to CFAO Motors Zambia Ltd. The transformation, which has been approved by the Patents and Companies Registration Agency (PACRA) and the Labour Department, is part of the group’s continued commitment to Zambia’s economic growth. The move is the latest milestone for the company, which has grown to be a trusted household name in the vehicle market since its establishment in 1963 as a member of the Lonrho group of companies. Read more
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Energy Minister Peter Kapala says government is eager to start exporting more electricity once connected to East Africa. And Kapala says the UPND government is doing fine and has its eyes on the ball. In an interview, Kapala said Tanzania, Zambia and Kenya were inter-connectors. Read more: News Diggers
Zambia’s economic-growth targets for this year are looking shaky as its copper production plunges along with prices of the metal it relies on for more than 70% of export earnings. Output fell 7.4% to 364,089 tons in the first half of 2022, data from the Zambia Chamber of Mines showed Tuesday. Prices for the metal that’s used in everything from automobiles to iPhones are down 20% this year to $7,718 per ton on the London Metal Exchange — well below the Ministry of Finance and National Planning’s July forecast of $9,595 for the year. The government’s budgeted 3.1% growth target may be under threat, as farm output is also shrinking. Read more: Bloomberg
The World Bank Group on Wednesday, 27 July 2022 announced the launch of the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) Pipeline Development Program aimed at assisting Women Small and Medium Enterprises (WSMEs) to overcome financial constraints, stimulate growth and inspire more women to participate in the Zambian economy as entrepreneurs. The launch was officiated by the Minister of Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Development, Honourable Elias Mubanga, MP at Lusaka’s Mulungushi International Conference Centre – Kenneth Kaunda wing. Read more: Lusaka Times
ActionAid Zambia (AAZ) would like to commend the Zambian Government and the Creditor Committee of Zambia, chaired by China, for their important and unprecedented strides towards debt restructuring and ultimate cancellation. Zambia’s debt saga has been an issue of debate for several years now – and the urgency for resolving this has been escalated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the past decade, the government had embarked on ambitious infrastructure development that fueled the need for domestic and external financing. The global economic fallout following Covid and the war in Ukraine made government debt unsustainable, rising as it did from 23.8 percent of GDP in 2014 to 141.3 percent of GDP by 2020. This triggered Zambia’s debt default and led to the present plans to restructure the debt. Read more: ActionAid
International Business and Finance
As funding for startups falls across the globe, Africa is standing out as a notable exception, with its under-served population outweighing the impact of inflation and slowing economies. Funding for startups in the world’s second-largest continent more than doubled to 3.14 billion U.S. dollars in the first six months of the year, according to research firm Africa: The Big Deal. That compares with a decline ranging from 3.7 percent in Europe to 43 percent in Latin America and the Caribbean. Read more: CGTN
The world’s biggest oil producers have agreed to raise production slightly in a bid help ease high prices. Members of oil producers’ group Opec+ – which includes Russia – agreed on Wednesday to add 100,000 more barrels per day to the market from September. The latest production output increase is at a much slower pace than in recent months. West Texas Intermediate crude increased as much as 1%, trading at $94.69 per barrel. Brent Crude, the international benchmark, also increased to $100.45 a barrel. But after the latest meeting, Opec+ decided it would raise oil output by just 100,000 barrels per day from September in what some analysts described as an insult. “That is so little as to be meaningless. From a physical standpoint it is a marginal blip. As a political gesture it is almost insulting,” said Raad Alkadiri, managing director for energy, climate, and sustainability at Eurasia Group. Read more: BBC News
The Bank of England will announce its latest decision on interest rates on Thursday, and is widely expected to raise them for the sixth time in a row. Interest rates currently stand at 1.25%, but the central bank could increase them to as much as 1.75%. If so, that would be its highest level since December 2008. The Bank hopes to slow the rate at which prices are increasing. It has warned that inflation could pass 11% later this year. Read more: BBC News
Meta is reportedly exploring options for its first ever bond sale, tapping large Wall Street firms to find fixed-income investors. The firms involved in the talks include Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Barclay’s, according to Bloomberg. The Facebook parent has historically avoided the bond market, making the tech giant one of only 18 companies in the S&P 500 without short or long-term debt obligations. The company has been hit hard by a loss of advertising revenue and squeezed by the rise of social media rivals like TikTok. Read more: Business Insider
Capital Markets Report
In 222 trades recorded yesterday, 80,076 shares were transacted resulting in a turnover of K223,346. Share price gains were recorded in Copperbelt Energy Corporation of K0.02, Zambeef of K0.17 and in Zanaco of K0.02. Share price losses of K0.07 and K0.02 were recorded in Pamodzi and Standard Chartered Zambia respectively. Trading activity was also recorded in Chilanga Cement, Zambia Sugar and in CEC Africa on the quoted tier. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) closed at 6,909.55 points, 0.24% up from its previous close of 6,892.98 points. The market closed on a capitalization of K71,007,721,392 including Shoprite Holdings and K36,225,035,952 excluding Shoprite Holdings.