Good morning. Here’s what you need to know to start your day.
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Zambia has sent debt restructuring proposal to official creditors
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After debt is resolved, we’ll still have outstanding issues – Musokotwane
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Mobile money use surges in Africa, reaching $3.45 billion daily
Story of the Day
KAMAYOYO said the BUYZED Campaign Team has welcomed the new National Pension Scheme Authority (NAPSA) (Amendment) Act of 2023 which was signed into law by Mr. Hakainde Hichilema, President of the Republic of Zambia and is optimistic that the eligible beneficiary Zambians will endeavor to enjoy their facility as prescribed by the relevant statute which commenced on 17th April, 2023. NAPSA as a national social security scheme is so far proving to be a financial and investment giant in fostering Zambia’s economic development going by its effective participation in various sectors and positive care towards its clients through appropriate and timely amendments to the NAPSA Act. Read more
In Local Business News Sponsored by
Zambia has sent a debt restructuring proposal to its official creditors, a spokesperson for the government’s advisors said on Monday. The country, which was the major sovereign casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic and has been in default since 2020, aid on Friday it would share a first fully-formed debt restructuring plan with China and other government creditors. “We can confirm the proposal has been sent,” a spokesperson working with advisors to the government in Lusaka said. Read more: Reuters
Financial and National Planning Minister Dr Situmbeko Musokotwane says even after the country’s debt problem is sorted out, government still has outstanding issues to resolve such as creating employment. In an interview, Monday, Dr Musokotwane said it is for this reason that government is undertaking various reform programmes which would in turn attract investment. “I think it’s not about me (seeing to it that the debt is restructured), it’s about the team that is led by the President. We have discussed together as members of one Cabinet team, and we push forward on the challenge in the economic field to deal with this issue of the debt that was left behind. Read more: News Diggers
Africa-focused exploration and development company Arc Minerals has signed a joint venture (JV) agreement with a subsidiary of Anglo American over its copper interests in the northwestern region of Zambia. As part of the agreement, Anglo American will have the right to retain a 70 % stake in the JV for an aggregate investment of up to $88.5 million, including cash consideration of up to $14.5 million, based on exploration expenditures announced in May last year. Serving as the first new investment in Zambia in 20 years, the deal and its related investments and cash payments will be subject to Zambian regulatory approvals and further conditions being met. Read more: Mining Weekly
The Zambian Government and their neighboring Angolan counterparts have re-affirmed to develop three land borders to enhance trade and business relations. The three modern borders facilities are to be located at Jimbe, Sikongo and Shangombo. For the Shangombo border, the Zambian government will have to first develop a 10 kilometers water way on the Kwando River as another way of linking Zambia to Angola. This is after the witnessing of the signing of the six memoranda of understandings – MOUs in different areas by Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema with his counterpart the President of Angola Joao Manuel Lourenco. Infrastructure Development Minister Charles Milupi said Government will on top of developing the Jimbe Boarder in North-Western Province and the Malundo Sikongo Boarder on the western part, will further facilitate the construction of the Canal in Shangombo District. He explained that there was no need of signing the other MoU as the recent passed regime had already signed and the only need was to develop canals and to have safe boarder securities from both sides. Read more: Zambian Business Times
Bank of Zambia Exchange Rates
| Currency | Buying | Selling |
|---|---|---|
| USD | 17.5037 | 17.5516 |
| GBP | 21.7973 | 21.8640 |
| EUR | 19.2891 | 19.3488 |
| ZAR | 0.9648 | 0.9678 |
In International Business News
Britain said on Tuesday it would introduce a new law to rein in the power that big tech companies such as Google, Facebook and Amazon are able to wield to stifle competition in digital markets. The legislation will also bolster protection for consumers by making it easier to opt out of online subscriptions and by making it easier to tackle fake reviews, the government said. Britain’s antitrust watchdog, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), set up a dedicated Digital Markets Unit two years ago, armed with the expertise to regulate new markets, such as social media. But it has lacked the legal “teeth” to underpin its remit. Read more: Reuters
According to the GSMA’s annual State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money 2023, mobile money services are growing faster than anticipated worldwide, particularly in Africa. The report, which is published annually by the GSMA and funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, demonstrates that the rates of adoption are even quicker than expected, with the number of registered mobile money accounts growing by 13 per cent year on year, from 1.4 billion in 2021 to 1.6 billion in 2022. Read more: Business Insider
According to a research study by the Nigerian news outlet Punch Ng, Nigeria’s borrowing from the World Bank increased by 121.46% under the 8 year tenure of the country’s current president, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.). According to information obtained by the news outlet, Nigeria’s overall debt to the World Bank Group increased by $7.64 billion (or N3.52 trillion, using the Central Bank of Nigeria’s exchange rate, which was N460.53 per dollar as of April 23, 2023) over the course of seven years. According to information from the Debt Management Office’s external debt stock reports, the country’s debt to the World Bankincreased from $6.29 billion (N2.9 trillion) in December 2015 to $13.93 billion (N6.42 trillion) in December 2022. Nigeria has received loans from the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) and International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) over the years. Read more: Business Insider
Samsung could report its worst profit in 14 years this week, as prices for memory chips, its biggest business, continue to fall, while demand stays weak. The South Korean technology giant guided earlier this month that it would post operating profit of 600 billion Korean won ($449 million) for the first quarter. If Samsung reports this number, it would be the company’s lowest profit since the first quarter of 2009. Samsung releases preliminary earnings guidance, but does not give detailed figures. It reports its full first quarter earnings on Thursday. Samsung is the world’s largest maker of memory chips, which go into everything from PCs to servers in data centers. Read more: CNBC
Finally, Capital Markets News
In 39 trades recorded yesterday, 19,515 shares were transacted resulting in a turnover of K55,574.00. A share price loss of K0.02 was recorded in Zambeef. Trading activity was also recorded in CEC Zambia and Standard Chartered Bank Limited. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) closed at 8,019.86 points, 0.02% points lower than its previous close at 8,021.24 points. The market closed on a capitalization of K75,840,688,528.26 including Shoprite Holdings and K41,058,003,088.26 excluding Shoprite Holdings.
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