Good morning. Here’s what you need to know
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Shaft 28 To Produce 83,000 Tonnes Of Copper
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Bank of Zambia dumps $6.5 million into foreign exchange market to shore up value of Kwacha
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China economy grows faster than expected, by 5.3% in first quarter
In Local Business and Finance News
In anticipation of the upcoming peak tourism season, Proflight Zambia has announced its annual scheduled flights to the Kafue National Park beginning June 1, 2024. The flights offer ease of access and connectivity to one of Africa’s largest parks for both local and international travellers. Through Procharter, the airline will connect Lusaka, and Chunga in the Kafue National Park, with a three-times-weekly service to run from June 1 to October 31, 2024. “Holiday makers and adventure seekers can look forward to enjoying the park’s natural beauty at its peak, providing a unique experience of the diverse wonders of the vast wildlife,” said Proflight Zambia Director of Flight Operations, Captain Josias Walubita. Positioned near the Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW) and African Parks Headquarters, Chunga is considered to be the central hub of the Kafue National Park and is centrally positioned to service both the North and the Southern parts of the park. Read more: Tourism Update
The Bank of Zambia (BoZ), once again, offloaded US$6.5 million into the market partially meeting increasing demand for hard currency. A week ago, the central bank was in the market to defend the Kwacha by offloading US$8.5 million to partially offset increasing demand for the greenback. On Friday, the BoZ went into the market to defend the local currency by offloading US$6.5 million. This is contained in the daily market update prepared by Access Bank Zambia. Read more: Zambia Monitor
Mines and Mineral Development Minister, Paul Kabuswe, has announced that government has developed a national strategy aimed at harnessing and utilising the critical minerals to support Zambia’s social economic development. Kabuswe explained that the national critical minerals strategy provided guidance on investments for explorations, mining, development, processing and supply of goods and services in Zambia’s sub-sector. He said this on Monday at the sustainable and inclusive minerals value chains South- South cooperation and knowledge sharing forum in Lusaka in a speech read on his behalf by Permanent secretary, Hapenga Kabeta. “As you may know, Zambia is endowed with critical raw materials vital in the green energy transition and ongoing technological advances. “We are determined to implement measures to facilitates the attainment of strategic development goals and share the Africa Mining Vision of transparent, equitable and optimal exploitation of mineral resources,” Kabuswe said. Read more: Zambia Monitor
President Hakainde Hichilema says the de-watering of Shaft 28 at Luanshya Copper Mines on the Copperbelt, will create over 3,000 jobs, which will in turn recapitalize small businesses. President Hichilema says Shaft 28 is expected to produce about 40,000 metric tonnes of copper once operational. This will contribute towards achieving the three Million tonnes national production target in the next 10 years. The President has explained that these developments will give a new lease of life to the people of Luanshya. He was speaking at the commissioning of the de-watering of Shaft 28 in Luanshya district and said the mine shaft will produce 83 000 tonnes of copper per annum. Read more: ZNBC
In a decisive move to address the escalating climate crisis, the government has issued a ban on charcoal production permits in three districts. This directive, issued by the Green Economy and Environment Minister, Collins Nzovu, aims to curb deforestation and mitigate the impacts of climate change. The affected districts— Itezhi-tezhi, Mumbwa, and Shibuyunji—have been identified as hotspots for illegal tree cutting, contributing to widespread land degradation and deforestation. The ban comes amidst record-high temperatures, reaching 40 degrees Celsius in February and March, exacerbating the severity of the drought gripping the country. Read more: Lusaka Times
In International News
China’s economy made a stronger-than-expected start to the year, even as the crisis in its property sector deepened. According to official data, gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 5.3% in the first three months of 2024, compared to a year earlier. That beat expectations the world’s second largest economy could see growth slow to 4.6% in the first quarter. Last month, Beijing set an ambitious annual growth target for world’s second largest economy of “around 5%”. Read more: BBC News
Tesla will lay off more than 10% of its global electric vehicle workforce. In a memo, first reported by news website Electrek, billionaire owner Elon Musk told staff there was nothing he hated more, “but it must be done”. The world’s largest vehicle-maker by market value had 140,473 employees globally as of December, according to its latest annual report. Tesla has not responded to the BBC’s request for comment. “We have done a thorough review of the organisation and made the difficult decision to reduce our headcount by more than 10% globally,” said the email from Mr Musk. Read more: BBC News
A report unveiled Monday (Apr. 15) by the World Bank reveals that one-half of the world’s 75 most vulnerable countries are facing a widening income gap with the wealthiest economies for the first time in this century. The world’s most vulnerable economies are eligible for low-interest loans and grants from the World Bank’s International Development Association are known as IDA countries. Over half of all them —39 in all—are in Sub-Saharan Africa. Over 2020-24, average per capita incomes in half of IDA countries have been growing more slowly than those of wealthy economies. Despite some progress over the first two decades of this century, significant development gaps persisted. The shock of the pandemic and subsequent overlapping crises has exacerbated the challenges facing IDA nations. Among them, 31 have per capita incomes of less than $1,315 a year. The report titled The Great Reversal: Prospects, Risks, and Policies in International Development Association Countries, offers a comprehensive look at the opportunities and risks confronting these 75 countries. Read more: Africa News
Niger has signed a $400 million memorandum of understanding with China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), a state-owned oil behemoth, tied to the sale of crude oil from its Agadem oilfield. Niger state television RTN announced this development, however, it didn’t provide detailed information about the specifics of the deal. “China is a great friend to Niger; we can never say it enough,” Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine said at the signing ceremony, which was broadcast by RTN. “This signature demonstrates the friendship … and fruitful cooperation between the two states,” Chinese ambassador Jiang Feng said. On another end, there is a growing concern that China may be planning to establish a second military base in Africa, as the United States struggle to maintain its military presence in Niger. Read more: Business Insider
As recently reported, investment in Nigeria experienced a very dramatic decline over the last decade. To elaborate, Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) in Nigeria fell by $19bn in 10 years. The country’s FDI went from $22.7bn in 2014 to $3.7bn in 2023. As a result, the Federal government has begun the process of bolstering investor confidence to increase forex supply via FDI. This information, seen in the Nigerian newspaper, The Punch was disclosed by the country’s Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun. He made the revelation to industry leaders during a conference at the Lagos Business School Breakfast Club. The Minister revealed that FDI reduced to $14.4bn in 2015 and to $10.4 in 2016, highlighting the downward trend of investment into Africa’s largest economy. “In the succeeding years, FDI continued to take a downward trend, reducing to $9.8bn in 2017. It increased slightly to $11.9bn in 2018 but fell once more to $9.2bn in 2019,” as seen in the Punch’s report. Read more: Business Insider
Finally, Capital Markets News
In 171 trades recorded yesterday, 1,211,754 shares were transacted resulting in a turnover of K4,859,762.62. The following price changes were recorded yesterday:-K 0.01 in CEC Zambia. Trading activity was also recorded in Chilanga Cement, Real Estate Investments Zambia, Standard Chartered Bank Limited, Zambeef, ZANACO and Zambia Sugar. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) closed at 12,766.68 points, 0.03% lower than it’s previous close at 12,770.30 points. The market closed on a capitalization of K99,736,978,002.09 including Shoprite Holdings and 64,954,292,562.09 excluding Shoprite Holdings.
29 Govt Bond trades with total face value of K185,828,000 were processed yesterday, resulting in a total turnover of K130,224,050.