Story of the Day
Zambian breweries hosted a webinar last week under the theme, “Collaborative solutions to address alcohol abuse among the youth” as part of its alcohol responsibility programme and initiatives. The webinar was graced by a panel of experts from various backgrounds including mental health, and public health, to discuss alcoholism, particularly amongst the youth. The panel included Mr Ernest Nestah Gondwe, Secretary General and CEO of the Bars and Nightclub Owners’ Association, Dr Francisa Bwalya, Acting Head Clinical Care at Chainama Hills hospital and the National Mental Health Coordinator under the Ministry of Health mental health, Mr Victor K. Kagoli, Director of Public Health from Lusaka City Council, and renowned artiste, Maureen Lilanda. Read more
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The International Monetary Fund -IMF- has released the first installment of $185m which Zambia qualified for last month under the bailout package. On Thursday last week, the Ministry of Finance received the first installment from the IMF. Ministry of Finance Director for Economic Management, Mulele Mulele says the IMF will be releasing the installments every six months after a review by the multilateral lender. Mr Mulele says the IMF will be conducting reviews every six months before the next installment is made. Read more: ZNBC
Zambia Consumer Association (ZACA) Executive Secretary Juba Sakala has challenged local distributors and manufacturers to emulate Shoprite by effecting a reduction in prices following the gains recorded in the kwacha. In an interview, Tuesday, Sakala said it was the association’s hope that other businesses could also pass on the benefits of the stabilised currency to consumers. Read more: News Diggers
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) does not anticipate any relief for Zambia after the end of a 2022-2025 debt programme, its mission chief Allison Holland said at a briefing on Wednesday. Read more: CNBC
International Business and Finance
Kwasi Kwarteng, 47, is taking over as head of the British Treasury with the onerous task of trying to pull the UK out of a serious cost of living crisis without plunging the public finances into the abyss. “There’s a lot of pressure on Kwasi Kwarteng,” as the political longevity of new Prime Minister Liz Truss will be intimately tied to her performance, says Tony Travers, a professor at the London School of Economics (LSE), interviewed by AFP. Read more: Africa News
Director-General of the World Trade Organization Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has stressed the importance of the “free flow of trade” in Africa to help achieve the goals of global climate change. “You cannot really talk about adaptation without considering that you need a free flow of trade. Because you might have the finances but if trade policies are not right, those who need new technologies for adaptation – if there is no free flow of goods and ideas – may not be able to use the money to get at it,” said Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. Several African leaders have criticized the lack of Western counterparts at the meeting in Rotterdam, where they pleaded for funds to help their countries adapt to global warming. Read more: Africa News
The United Kingdom’s new prime minister is reportedly preparing to commit as much as £150 billion ($172 billion) to shield households and businesses from soaring energy bills, increasing government borrowing at a time when investors are already on edge about the country’s finances. Liz Truss, who earlier this week succeeded Boris Johnson, told lawmakers Wednesday that she would unveil her plans to tackle sky-high energy prices on Thursday. Truss is drawing up plans to freeze the average annual energy bill for households at around £2,500 ($2,860) for the next two years, the Financial Times reported. That would mean bills rising by 27% from their current level, but keep them well below the £3,549 ($3,954) they would hit starting in October without government intervention. Read more: BBC News
Fitch Solutions expects the Bank of Ghana (BoG) to further hike the monetary policy rate to 24% before year-end. The research/intelligence firm disclosed this in a recent report seen by Business Insider Africa. According to the report, the rate hike would be prompted by rising inflation. Ghana’s inflation had surged to 31.7% in July, the highest level on record since December 2003. And it could peak in Q4 2022. Meanwhile, further tightening of monetary policy in Ghana is believed to be one of the conditions required for the country to reach a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a $3 billion bailout. Read more: Business Insider
Oil prices dropped sharply on Wednesday, deepening a selloff that has already brought relief to drivers at the gas pump. US oil tumbled 5.1% to $82.41 a barrel in recent trading. That’s the lowest intraday price since January 24. US crude is now down by more than one-third since briefly hitting $130 a barrel in early March. Brent crude, the world benchmark, dropped below $90 a barrel for the first time since February 8. Brent was recently down 4.6% to $88.55 a barrel. Read more: CNN
Capital Markets Report
In 46 trades recorded yesterday, 35,581 shares were transacted resulting in a turnover of K68,036. A share price gain was recorded in Pamodzi of K0.01. Trading activity was also recorded in British American Tobacco Zambia, Copperbelt Energy Corporation, Chilanga Cement, Madison Financial Services, PUMA, Standard Chartered Zambia, Zambeef and Zanaco. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) closed at 7,058.84 points, 0.23 points up from its previous close of 7,058.61 points. The market closed on a capitalization of K71,657,558,044 including Shoprite Holdings and K36,874,872,604 excluding Shoprite Holdings.