Domestic
Finance Minister Dr. Bwalya Ng’andu says Zambia is ready to host the 35th Annual General Meeting of the Trade and Development Bank to be held in Livingstone on Thursday, 22nd August. Read more: Lusaka Times
Foreign Affairs Minister Joe Malanji says plans are underway to establish another power interconnector line from Mozambique passing through Zambia up to Malawi to ease electricity trade. Read more: ZNBC
The Zambian cabinet has approved the need for the country to ratify the Eastern and Southern Africa Interim Economic Partnership agreement with the European Union (EU), a spokesperson said on Friday. Read more: News Ghana
The 2019 mining fiscal regime risks resulting in more job losses due to the shutdown of copper smelting and refining plants on the Copperbelt Province, says the Zambia Chamber of Mines. Read more: Diggers
Mines Minister Richard Musukwa says government is not averse to granting gold mining licenses only to Zambians, but notes that being a high capital-intensive field, mining works better when locals collaborate with foreign investors. Read more: Diggers
International
This week, South African Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi granted visa-free status during his Budget Vote speech to four new countries. Read more: Business Chief
One of the US’s most powerful business groups has abandoned the shareholder-first idea that has driven capitalism for decades. The Business Roundtable said the pursuit of shareholder interests is no longer the central purpose of corporate America. Companies should focus on social responsibilities as well as profits, the organisation said. Read more: BBC News
The US central bank should consider cutting interest rates by one percentage point and introduce “some quantitative easing” stimulus measures, president Donald Trump has said. In a Twitter post he again complained about a strong dollar, which “is sadly hurting other parts of the world”. Read more: Wall Street Journal
The direction Brexit will take could become clearer this week as U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson prepares to meet his German and French counterparts. Read more: CNBC
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