Story of the Day:
When ZCCM IH management team led by Mabvuto Chipata and the Board of Directors of Zambia’s biggest mining investment company meet with shareholders at the end of June 2021, they will be announcing a USD 2.390 million dividend for its shareholders. Read more
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According the Ministry of Finance, K10.1 billion worth of debt was serviced in the January to May 2021 period. This accounted for 20.2% of the total expenditure in the review time frame the brief carried. Of this stock of debt, domestic obligations totalled K8.0 billion of which 1.1% related to commercial bank facility related principal repayments while the remainder was highly likely channelled towards domestic arrears and other repayment obligations. Read more: The Business Telegraph
Copper price rebound on the London Metal Exchange – LME and economic pulse clawing back into the economy helped scale Zambia’s tax revenue collection to an outperformance of 43.0% above forecast at K26.5 billion. This was revealed in a treasury brief by the Ministry of Finance dated June 18. Read more: The Business Telegraph
Seven months after Zambia defaulted on $3bn of eurobond debts, Western investors are warming up to the country once again. Bets on Zambian eurobonds have driven prices back to pre-pandemic levels and international players such as Bank of Nevis have bought up stakes in the country’s banking industry. Read more: The Africa Report
Qatar Airways is continuing its expansion in Africa with a new route launching to Lusaka, Zambia and Harare, Zimbabwe on August 6th. The flag carrier of Qatar is excited to connect passengers to the two cities while meeting increasing cargo demand with the move. Read more: Simple Flying
International Business and Finance
The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on foreign direct investment (FDI) in Africa as flows to the continent declined by 16% in 2020 to $40 billion, from $47 billion in 2019, according to UNCTAD’s World Investment Report 2021, published on Monday. Read more: CGTN
The West African Bloc (ECOWAS) has suspended a plan to adopt a common currency until 2027. The bloc originally intended for the “Eco” to launch in 2020, but according to ECOWAS president, Dr. Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, the group delayed things because of the coronavirus pandemic and its aftershocks. Read more: CGTN
Britain is to start negotiations to join a free trade area which could grant businesses access to “some of the biggest economies of the present and future”, the government has said. The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) is made up of 11 nations and 500 million people, including Australia, Canada and Japan. Membership would reduce tariffs on exports such as cars and whisky. Read more: BBC News
Bitcoin tanked after China called in a bunch of major commercial lenders — including payments juggernaut Alipay — to warn them about getting into cryptocurrency. Bitcoin plunged 10% to as low as $31,179 per coin, the lowest level since January, according to Coindesk. It recovered a little bit and was last trading down 5% at around $33,000 per coin, a two-week low. But that’s still a drop of 50% from an all-time high in April. Read more: CNN
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In 19 trades recorded yesterday, 1,480,876 shares were transacted resulting in a turnover of K3,544,567. A share price gain was recorded in Lafarge of K1.25. Trading activity was also recorded in Copperbelt Energy Corporation, First Quantum Minerals, ZMRE and Shoprite. The LuSE All Share index (LASI) closed at 4,443.65 points, 1.29% up from its previous close of 4,386.35 points. The market closed on a capitalization of K59,596,255,929 including Shoprite Holdings and K25,351,615,154 excluding Shoprite Holdings.
Chart of the Day: