Good morning. Here’s what you need to know
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FQM Gold production up 56%
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Zambia completes US$14m ground station for first satellite
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Nigeria intends to secure another $500 million from the World Bank
In Local Business and Finance News
Zambia has completed the construction of a ground receiving station which it says will pave the way for the launch of the country’s long-awaited first satellite. According to a Facebook post from Zambia’s technology and science minister Felix Chipota Mutati on Saturday, the government has spent over US$14 million to build the ground receiving station, which is located in the Chibombo district in Central Province. Mutati said experts are now testing the station as they prepare to go into phase two of the preparations to launch the satellite. Mutati gave no details on when the satellite launch will take place, or any details about the satellite itself, apart from it being an earth-observation satellite. Zambia has been planning to launch its own earth-observation satellite for several years now to address challenges brought on by climate change in agriculture, land use, health and energy. Read more: Developing Telecoms
Kansanshi Mine which is owned and operated by Kansanshi Mining PLC, owned by First Quantum Minerals – FQM, Gold production has increased by over 55 percent in 2024. According to official statistics made available to the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, Gold production at the Kansanshi mine has increased by 56 percent from January to June 2024 compared to the Gold produced during the same period in 2023. FQM’s Kansanshi mine produced about 818 Kilograms of gold from January to June 2024 compared to about 521 kilograms produced within the same period in 2023. This represents about a 56 percent increase. The report indicates that the Kansanshi mine produced 111, 117, 175, 120, 136, and 157 kilograms of gold from January to June 2024 resulting in a total of 818 kilograms about a 56 percent increase compared to 96, 67, 93, 79, 94, and 89 kilograms which were equivalent to about 521 kilograms of gold produced from January to June 2023. Read more: Zambian Business Times
The Zambian government has pledged to complete the remaining 10 percent of the digital migration project, which was halted three years ago. This project, part of a broader US$2.2 billion initiative, had been paused due to financial constraints and an audit of the country’s debt. Chief Government Spokesperson, Cornelius Mweetwa, confirmed the resumption of the project, highlighting that President Hakainde Hichilema’s intervention was crucial in this decision. Mweetwa made the announcement following his visit to StarTimes Group in Beijing, China, where he discussed the project’s restart and final stages. He stated that the Ministry of Finance and National Planning had allocated funds in the 2025 budget to cover all financial obligations necessary for completing the project. This allocation reflected the government’s commitment to advancing the project for the public’s benefit. Read more: Zambia Monitor
Indeni Energy Company Limited, now operating as an Oil Marketing Company (OMC), has announced plans to enter the retail petroleum market by opening filling stations across Zambia as part of its long-term business strategy. The announcement was made by the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Evans Mauta, during a presentation at the recently concluded Energy Forum for Africa in Lusaka. In his presentation, Mauta provided an overview of Indeni’s evolving business model, emphasizing the company’s ambition to establish a retail presence in all 10 provinces of Zambia. He mentioned that Indeni was exploring partnerships to supply finished petroleum products to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which could open new avenues for growth. Read more: Zambia Monitor
The construction of the 120 Megawatts (MW) Solar PV GET FiT Programme in Zambia is estimated to start next year, as lenders are working towards financial close at the end of 2024. The GET FiT Programme is being executed by the Ministry of Energy and implemented by the German development bank KfW while funding is being provided by the German government. An update provided at the Energy Forum for Africa in Lusaka last week by Dailesi Njobvu, a policy advisor, showed that estimated construction of the project would start in 2025 and completion in 2025/2026. In her presentation, Njobvu said there were efforts towards signing project agreements. Read more: Zambia Monitor
In International News
Nigeria is seemingly a couple of weeks away from securing another $500 million loan from the World Bank. The West African country has more than once this year attempted to secure this same amount from the same organization. As reported by Nairmatrics, the appraisal from the “Program Information Document (PID)” on the Nigeria Human Capital Opportunities for Prosperity and Equity (HOPE) Governance Program, showed that the government is looking to secure a $500 million loan from the World Bank to be infused into the country’s health and education sector. The main objectives for securing the loan includes employing more workers in the aforementioned sectors, deployment, and ensuring better performance management of educators and primary healthcare workers. The loan is set to be approved y the World Bank on September 26, 2024. Read more: Business Insider
Vice President Kamala Harris is calling for raising the corporate tax rate to 28%, her first major proposal to raise revenues and finance expensive plans she wants to pursue as president. Harris campaign spokesman James Singer told NBC News that she would push for a 28% corporate tax rate, calling it “a fiscally responsible way to put money back in the pockets of working people and ensure billionaires and big corporations pay their fair share.” “As President, Kamala Harris will focus on creating an opportunity economy for the middle class that advances their economic security, stability, and dignity,” Singer wrote in an email. If enacted, the policy would raise hundreds of billions of dollars, as the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has projected that 1 percentage point increases in the corporate rate corresponds to about $100 billion over a decade. It would also roll back a big part of former President Donald Trump’s signature legislation in 2017 as president, which slashed the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%. Trump, meanwhile, recently said he would cut taxes even further if elected president, including on businesses. Read more: CNBC
Goldman Sachs has cut its probability forecast for a U.S. recession to 20% shortly after raising it, as fresh labor market data sparked a reassessment of market views on the economy. Economists at Goldman earlier this month raised their 12-month U.S. recession probability from 15% to 25% after the U.S. July jobs report of Aug. 2 showed nonfarm payrolls grew by a less-than-expected 114,000. That was down from the downwardly revised 179,000 of June and below the Dow Jones estimate of 185,000. The report triggered widespread concerns about the world’s largest economy, and contributed to the sharp — but ultimately brief — stock market sell-off at the start of the month. Read more: CNBC
Payments processor Mastercard is reducing its global headcount by 3% as part of a reorganization it unveiled earlier this year to sharpen its focus on core businesses, a spokesperson said on Friday. The cuts would impact around 1,000 people based on the most recent data on the company’s workforce. The Purchase, New York-based company had 33,400 employees at the end of last year, according to its annual report. Most of those impacted would be notified by the third quarter. The plans were first reported by Bloomberg News. “As these changes are made, we plan to redeploy resources into growth areas,” a spokesperson for Mastercard said, like expanding into new markets and boosting its unit that houses cyber and anti-fraud businesses. Last month, Mastercard’s CFO Sachin Mehra said the company would record a one-time restructuring charge of $190 million in the three months ended Sept. 30. Read more: Reuters
Finally, Capital Markets News
In 74 trades recorded yesterday, 33,533 shares were transacted resulting in a turnover of K85,862.28. The following price changes were recorded yesterday: +K0.01 in CEC Zambia and +K0.02 in Standard Chartered Bank Limited. Trading activity was also recorded in Airtel, Real Estate Investments Zambia, Zambia Reinsurance, Zambeef, ZANACO and CEC Africa on the quoted tier. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) closed at 14,424.43 points, 0.08% higher than its previous day close at 14,414.34 points. The market closed on a capitalization of K118,319,529,118.23 including Shoprite Holdings and K74,841,172,318.23 excluding Shoprite Holdings.
15 Govt Bond trades with total quantity K116,967,460 and turnover K78,083,710 were processed yesterday.
