Story of the Day
Last week, I came across a survey revealing some opinions of women working in the Zambian tech industry. The survey, titled: Women in Tech (Zambia) 2022, broke down the results of a survey of more than 50 women. This was the first research of its kind, and in querying more into the source of the story I met Matambila Karima, the Head of Information Security at Ecobank Zambia. Ms Karima is one of few women in tech to be in a leadership position within the country and has worked in the industry for more than 13 years. Her journey was not an easy one, having to face several extreme challenges based purely on her gender throughout her career. She designed a survey to be the voice of the new generation of women in tech who have been working tirelessly under the shadows. Its purpose is to help the public understand the difficulties women may face in the industry, not as a deterrent, but to motivate unity and encourage young women. Read more
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Zambia has begun building a 700-kilometer (435-mile) long pipeline to pump diesel fuel from neighboring Tanzania with an initial investment of $300 million. Zambian Energy Minister Peter Kapala said Sunday that the new pipeline will run alongside the current one but will be more modernized. “In a few months’ time, the pipeline will start pumping diesel fuel into Zambia. Phase one of the pipeline will end in Mpika (District in northern Zambia), phase two in Ndola (in Copperbelt Province) and phase three in Solwezi (in northwestern Zambia),” Kapala told a live radio broadcast. Read more: AA
Zambia’s inflation rate dropped below 10% for the first time in almost three years in June, bucking a global trend of record consumer-price growth. Consumer prices rose 9.7% from a year earlier, compared with 10.2%% in May, interim Statistician-General Mulenga Musepa told reporters Thursday in Lusaka, the capital. The last time the southern African nation’s inflation rate was under 10% was in August 2019. Annual food-price growth slowed to 11.9% in June, compared with 12.3% in the previous month, and non-food inflation decelerated to 6.9% from 7.5%. Costs climbed 0.9% in the month. Read more: Bloomberg
USAID will arrange a $30 million package which will in part help Zambia boost food exports to two east African countries suffering from surging prices due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Two companies in Zambia, one of southern Africa’s biggest corn producers, will start moving 17,500 metric tons of corn and soybeans to Rwanda and Kenya in coming days, with 30,000 more tons to come, according to a statement. The firms will be assisted by a revolving credit facility structured by USAID. Read more: Bloomberg
Italian President Sergio Mattarella is expected to undertake an official visit to Zambia. President Mattarella will be in Zambia till, Friday July 8th, 2022. Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Stanley Kakubo has confirmed in a statement to ZNBC News today. Mr Kakubo says President Hakainde Hichilema and President Mattarella are expected to hold bilateral talks where discussions will focus on pertinent matters of mutual interest at bilateral, regional and international levels. Read more: ZNBC
Eunice M. Tembo Luambia, the new Permanent Representative of Zambia to the United Nations Office at Geneva, today presented her credentials to Tatiana Valovaya, the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva. Prior to her appointment to Geneva, Ms. Luambia had been serving as Director of the Zambia Mine Action Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Zambia since September 2011. Read more: African Business
A local socioeconomic think tank on Wednesday said a fall in incomes and rising prices of foodstuffs have worsened the poverty situation in Zambia. The Jesuit Center for Theological Reflections (JCTR) said the poverty headcount in Zambia has remained high at about 60 percent in 2021 with four to five households reporting a drop in income from nonfarm businesses while one to three households reported a reduction or disappearance of wages due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The think tank said in a statement that nine in 10 households have experienced spikes in the price of food, forcing about 64 percent of households to reduce food consumption. Read more: News Ghana
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The Bank of Uganda (BoU) is increasing the interest rate by one percentage point from 7.5 percent to 8.5 percent to contain rising inflation. The increase, the highest in more than two years, came following a meeting held by Uganda’s monetary policy committee. Uganda’s economy is still expected to grow by between 4.5 and five percent in 2022 and increase by between five and 5.5 percent next year. The BoU said shocks to commodity prices, disruptions to production and distribution chains and global inflation will continue to negatively impact domestic economic growth. Read more: CGTN
Zimbabwe says it will introduce gold coins later this month as it tries to curb soaring inflation amid a slump in its currency. The country’s central bank also outlined plans to make the US dollar legal tender for the next five years. The central bank’s main interest rate was more than doubled this month to 200%, after the annual rate of inflation rose above 190%. Read more: BBC News
The Bank of England has hinted at further interest rate rises as it vows to bring inflation back down to 2%. The central bank’s focus was getting prices down and making life more affordable again, its chief economist Huw Pill said in a speech on Wednesday. In May, UK inflation hit 9.1%, its highest level in 40 years. And interest rates are at a 13-year record high of 1.25%. Read more: BBC News
The secretary general of oil producers group OPEC, Mohammad Barkindo, has died, the boss of Nigerian National Petroleum Corp (NNPC) announced on Wednesday. Barkindo, 63, a veteran of the oil industry, was due to step down at the end of this month after six years in the top job at the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). “We lost our esteemed Dr Muhammad Sanusi Barkindo,” NNPC CEO Mele Kyari wrote on Twitter, adding that he died late on Tuesday. Read more: CNN
For the first time in nearly two months, crude oil prices have fallen below $100 a barrel, reflecting investors’ growing concerns about a US recession that could crimp demand for oil. The price of West Texas Intermediate crude tumbled as much as 10% Tuesday, to hit a low of $97.43 before closing at $99.50, down 8% on the day. Brent crude oil was down by more than 10% when it hit a low for the day of $101.10 a barrel, before settling at $102.77 at the close. It’s the first time that WTI has been below $100 since May 11. That was also the last time Brent, which typically trades a bit higher, was below $102 a barrel. Brent has not been below $100 since April 25. Read more: CNN
The Government of the Central African Republic (CAR) has launched its digital currency project “Sango Coin’. This is coming barely two months after the country became the first in Africa to adopt Bitcoin. While President Faustin-Archange Touadera, who is spearheading the project, seem very excited and optimistic about its outcome, his government hasn’t really disclosed much details about how he intends to actualise his goals. Read more: Business Insider
Popular ride-hailing firm Bolt has unveiled a new Africa head office in Nairobi, Kenya, amid rapidly growing demand. The head office located in Riverside Drive will serve as a regional hub for the firm’s operations in Africa and also host its top executives, including; the Regional Director and Interim VP for Rides, Regional Manager for Ride-hailing, East Africa, Regional Marketing Manager, Africa, Senior Head of Public Policy and Legal Director for Africa. Read more: Business Insider
Capital Markets Report
In 44 trades recorded yesterday, 46,476 shares were transacted resulting in a turnover of K148,432. Share price gains were recorded in Copperbelt Energy Corporation of K0.01 and in Zambia Sugar of K0.36. Trading activity was also recorded in Zanaco and in CEC Africa on the quoted tier. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) closed at 6,884.04 points, 0.43% up from its previous close of 6,854.12 points. The market closed on a capitalization of K70,896,676,047 including Shoprite Holdings and K36,113,990,607 excluding Shoprite Holdings.