Good morning. Here’s what you need to know
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Kasenseli to resume operations before end of June 2024 – Ministry of Mines
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Citi fined $79 mln by UK regulators over ‘fat-finger’ failures
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Anglo American rejects BHP’s third bid, extends deadline
In Local Business and Finance News
Zambia’s second largest gold mine, Mwinilunga’s Kasenseli gold mine whose operations were halted following the change of government after the 2021 general elections, is scheduled to reopen before end of June 2024, according to the Ministry of Mines and Minerals development. This follows Chief Government Spokesperson Cornelius Mweetwa remarks that during the cabinet meeting, President Hakainde Hichilema directed that Kasenseli gold mine be operational. Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, Mines and Minerals Development Permanent Secretary, Dr. Hapenga Kabeta said the Zambia gold Company which is under the ZCCM IH has been directed to rectify everything before end of June 2024. Read more: Zambian Business Times
Zambia is set to host an inaugural conference next month to discuss key issues in land administration and management both within the country and beyond, bringing together traditional leaders and local authorities. The conference will be held in Livingstone in June under the theme: “Transforming Land Tenure for a Sustainable Future.” President Hakainde Hichilema is expected to grace the event. Announcing the conference, Local Government and Rural Development Minister, Garry Nkombo, said the conference would enhance government policy reforms on land administration in Zambia. He noted that the conference would host delegates from Zambia and the Southern African region to discuss critical issues in land administration. Read more: Zambia Monitor
Minister of Technology and Science says government has invested a combined total of over K94 million in the construction of Mporokoso and Lundazi Trades Training Institutes scheduled to be commissoned in June, 2024. Felix Mutati revealed that at both institutes, Government will offer skills training that provide both livelihood survival as well as societal development programmes. Mr. Mutati added that this is part of the wider Government objectives of providing skills to Zambians and meeting skills for national development that cover the objectives of the 8th National Development Plan (8NDP) embracing Mining, Agriculture, Tourism and Manufacturing. Read more: Money FM
The African Development Bank has opened a tender inviting consulting firms to express interest in providing consultancy services for a floating solar project at the Kariba Dam, a hydroelectric power plant in Zambia. The chosen consultant will be tasked with feasibility studies for the Kariba site, including the financial and technical viability of the project, technical specifications for grid integration and the development of financing and business models to implement the floating solar array on Lake Kariba. The Kariba Dam is maintained by the Zambezi River Authority (ZRA), a bilateral organization owned by Zambia and Zimbabwe. According to the tender documents, the consultant will also assess the socioeconomic aspects of the proposed floating solar PV project “to guide ZRA and other local stakeholders in its decision-making process.” Read more: PV Magazine
In International News
Anglo American rejected on Wednesday a third takeover bid by BHP that valued the company at $49.2 billion, but it has agreed to extend the deadline for the world’s largest miner to make a formal offer. BHP now has until May 29 at 5pm GMT time to table a binding bid for its smaller rival, which is simultaneously working on a radical business overhaul that will see it divest its less profitable coal, nickel, diamond and platinum units. The latest, already rebuffed offer valued Anglo American’s shares at £29.34 based on the April 23 closing price. The figure represents a 47% premium on the stock value, BHP said. “BHP has put forward a final offer that would provide Anglo American shareholders with 17.8% of a combined BHP and Anglo American,” chief executive Mike Henry said. “The revised proposal is underpinned by BHP’s disciplined approach to mergers and acquisition and our focus on delivering long term fundamental value,” Henry noted. Read more: Mining
UK regulators fined Citigroup 61.6 million pounds ($78.5 million) for controls failings in its trading operations, one of the biggest sanctions for systems breaches, which in one case saw the Wall Street firm cause a sudden fall in European stocks. The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the markets watchdog, both probed and fined Citigroup over the failings that spanned from April 2018 through May 2022, they said in a statement on Wednesday outlining the findings of the investigation. The bank’s London unit, Citigroup Global Markets Limited (CGML), had a series of failings that “crystallised into trading incidents”, the most striking of which was a mistaken $444 billion order in May 2022. Read more: Reuters
UN agency’s World Food Programme (WFP) says it needs at least $400 million to feed millions of persons affected by extreme weather conditions in Southern Africa which has brought about drought that has plunged parts of Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi into hunger. WFP told Reuters on Wednesday that the funding is needed urgently for six months to support drought relief programme in the affected countries. The region witness a drastic shortfall in harvest as result of drought induced by El Niño which has affected at least 4.8 million people. El Niño is a weather condition that disrupts wind patterns and warms the temperature in parts of the Pacific Ocean. It can affect crop yields by reducing rain levels. “It’s fair to say this will probably be the biggest El Niño response we have ever done in Southern Africa,” WFP spokesperson Tomson Phiri said. According to Phiri, nearly 70% of the Southern African population that relies on rain-fed agriculture had their harvests “wiped out” by lack of rains. Read more: The Heritage Times
The United States and Russia are competing with China, France, and South Korea to build the first nuclear power plant in Ghana. Ghana will choose a company by December to build its first nuclear power plant, with contenders including France’s EDF, U.S.-based NuScale Power and Regnum Technology Group, and China National Nuclear Corporation, Reuters reported. South Korea’s Kepco and its subsidiary Korea Hydro Nuclear Power Corporation, along with Russia’s ROSATOM, are also vying for the contract, said Robert Sogbadji, Deputy Director for Power in charge of Nuclear and Alternative Energy. “Cabinet will approve the final choice. It can be one vendor or two nations; it will depend on the financial model and the technical details,” Sogbadji said. Ghana started the construction of a nuclear power plant in the 1960s, but the process was derailed by a coup. The plan was revived in 2006 with assistance from the International Atomic Energy Agency, following a devastating power crisis that year. Read more: Business Insider
Finally, Capital Markets News
In 214 trades recorded yesterday 367,299 shares were transacted resulting in a turnover of K3,377,033.24. The following share price changes were recorded yesterday: +K0.02 in CEC Zambia, +K2.29 in Chilanga Cement, -K0.19 in Standard Chartered Bank Limited, -K0.02 in ZANACO, -K0.01 in Zambeef and +K0.01 in CEC Africa on the quoted tier. Trading activity was recorded in AECI, Airtel, British American Tobacco Zambia, PUMA, Real Estate Investments Zambia, Standard Chartered Bank Limited, Zambeef, ZAMEFA and Zambia Sugar as well as FARM preference shares. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) closed at 12,896.60 point, 0.25% higher than it’s previous day close at 12,864.95 points. The market closed on a capitalization of K100,395,362,514.05 including Shoprite Holdings and K65,612,677,074.05 excluding Shoprite Holdings.
A total of 13 Govt Bond trades with total face value of 303,666,000 and turnover 196,927,220 were processed yesterday.