Story of the Day:
Two weeks into the month of December 2022 bond trading on the Lusaka Securities Exchange. Yet another mundane week as history repeats itself with the bond market eclipsing the equities market as it recorded a score of 93% to 7% on the equity market. which is 7% higher than its performance in the second week of December 2021. Read more
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KoBold Metals, a start-up backed by a coalition of billionaires including Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, has committed $150 million to developing the Mingomba copper-cobalt mine in Zambia, said to be the world’s highest-grade undeveloped large deposit of the orange metal. The start-up, which has Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures and the world’s top miner BHP as shareholders, will use its artificial intelligence tools to process drilling data and optimize exploration for copper and cobalt at Mingomba.KoBold is buying into what will be a joint venture with the existing owners of the project – Australian private equity firm EMR Capital and Zambia’s state-owned mining investment vehicle ZCCM-IH. Read more: Mining
The World Bank has pledged to increase financing in some sectors in a bid to help improve Zambia’s economy. Newly appointed World Bank Zambia Country Director Nathan Belete however says increased financing will depend on how the country responds and commits to reforms. Speaking during a Special Program on ZNBC that will air on Thursday at 20:00-hours on TV1, Mr. Belete further stated that investing in Agriculture and energy sectors will help create jobs and better the livelihoods of Zambians. Read more: ZNBC
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken signed a memorandum of understanding with the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia to explore ways to support their plan to develop an electric-vehicle value chain together. The two Central African countries are major producers of copper and cobalt, key metals in electric vehicles and batteries. Earlier this year they created an electric-vehicle battery council to explore the production of batteries in the region. The plan “opens the door for US and like-minded investment to keep more value added in Africa,” Blinken said at a signing ceremony in Washington on Tuesday. Read more: Bloomberg
Airtel Africa said on Friday that subsidiary Airtel Networks Zambia has bought 60 MHz of additional spectrum for $29m. The spectrum was bought from the Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority. Airtel said the purchase “will support our network expansion in the market for both mobile data and fixed wireless home broadband capability, including 5G rollout, providing significant capacity to accommodate our continued strong data growth in the country”. Read more: ShareCast
International Business and Finance
Morgan Stanley raised its outlook for China’s economy in 2023, predicting a rebound in activity will come earlier and be sharper than expected. The firm raised its forecasts for the country’s gross domestic product in 2023 to 5.4% from its previous outlook of 5%, according to a research note led by the firm’s chief Asia economist Chetan Ahya. “We had previously expected a rebound in activity to materialize from late 2Q23. Now we are projecting mobility to improve from early March,” the note said, adding that the firm expects to see a “faster and sharper rise in mobility” to be reflected in the economy starting in the second quarter. Read more: CNBC
The US central bank has hiked interest rates again, and warned more rises will be necessary to rein in the rapid pace of price increases. Forecasts from the Federal Reserve showed the bank’s key interest rate could stand above 5% a year from now. But policymakers are starting to move more cautiously, following signs that the most severe inflation in decades may be starting to ease. They agreed to lift the bank’s key interest rate by 0.5 percentage points. That pushed the target range for the Fed’s benchmark rate to 4.25% – 4.5% – the highest rate in 15 years. Read more: BBC News
Interest rates are expected to be increased again by the Bank of England as the cost of living soars. The benchmark rate stands at 3% and is widely forecast to go up to 3.5% following the latest meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee. It would be the ninth consecutive hike since December 2021. The rate is already at its highest level for 14 years. The impact of a rate rise would be felt by borrowers and savers across the UK. At its November meeting, the Bank increased its benchmark rate from 2.25% to 3% – the biggest single increase since 1989. Read more: BBC News
Tesla CEO Elon Musk sold about 22 million more shares in his electric vehicle business, which were worth around $3.6 billion, according to a financial filing out Wednesday night. The transactions took place between Monday and Wednesday this week according to the filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Earlier this year, Musk told his millions of followers on social media that he had “no further TSLA sales planned” after April 28. According to financial research firm VerityData, Musk has sold 94,202,321 shares so far this year at an average price of $243.46 per share for pre-tax proceeds of approximately $22.93 billion. Director of research for VerityData, Ben Silverman, wrote in an e-mail to CNBC on Wednesday, “Musk’s prior sales going back to November 2021 were expertly timed, so Tesla shareholders need to pay attention to Musk’s actions and not his words – or lack thereof when it comes to his recent selling.” Read more: CNBC
Capital Markets Report
In 18 trades recorded yesterday, 36,259 shares were transacted resulting in a turnover of K227,537.43. A price loss of K0.07 was recorded in Copperbelt Energy Corporation Zambia. Trading activity was also recorded in British American Tobacco Zambia, Standard Chartered Bank Limited, SHOP, Zambeef and Zanaco. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) closed at 7,310.46 points, 0.36% points down from it’s previous close at 7,336.59 points. The market closed on a capitalization of 72,752,783,126.86 including Shoprite Holdings and K37,970,097,686.86 excluding Shoprite Holdings.
