Story of the Day
Farmers supplying Zambian Breweries with the cassava for its affordable Eagle lager have kicked off the 2022 cassava harvest season in Luapula. Embracing the company’s visions of ‘a future with more cheers’, the farmers are a crucial part of Zambian Breweries’ policy of local sourcing and value addition. Read more
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Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry Chipoka Mulenga says government is in the process of renegotiating some clauses in the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). Mulenga said in its current form the agreement is dictating that countries can get things from anywhere else, package them in Africa, and render such products African, which would kill the production and manufacturing sector for Africa. He explained that Zambia should be allowed to make decisions for itself on how it is going to structure the investment and development agenda in the area of economic zones, which is not the case with the current agreement. Read more: Zambian Business Times
Zambia’s largest mining company – First Quantum Minerals – FQM which is listed on the Canadian Stock Exchange has rejected allegations that it’s been mining nickel at Kalumbila for some time now. Information had been passed on to the Zambian Business Times – ZBT by sources who asked for their names to be withheld that they had worked at Kalumbila mine and that Nickel Mining has already been taking place at the mine for some time now but had not been officially declared. Read more: Zambian Business Times
A senior official at state run telecoms firm Zamtel has revealed that government has put the company up for sale. Acting Zamtel Chief Executive Officer Joshua Malupenga told a special virtual staff meeting last week that government has already found an equity partner to run the company. Mr. Malupenga did not disclose the name or origin of the equity partner but stated that it was a foreign firm. Read more: Lusaka Times
Konkola Copper Mines Plc (KCM) and Indo Zambia Bank have held exploratory discussions to establish a strong business partnership, which would unlock bridge financing to the mining company by the bank to pave the way for growth. KCM Provisional Liquidator Celine Nair, who is also the acting Administrator General and Official Receiver of Zambia, held business talks with Indo Zambia Bank Managing Director Kowdichar Shashidhar and other senior bank officials during a visit to KCM in Chingola. Read more: Lusaka Times
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South Africa’s multinational telecommunications company, MTN Group, has yet again maintained its position as the biggest company in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) by market capitalisation, followed by East Africa’s largest network operator, Safaricom. Dangote Cement ranked third on the list, followed by MTN Nigeria, a subsidiary of MTN Group, and Airtel Africa. The market cap of the Top 30 companies for February 2022 was US$111bn, down 2.6% on April. Further insights from the report also showed that Nigerian companies dominated the list as the West-African nation had 12 companies on the Top 30 companies list. The report also noted that Sub-Saharan Africa’s (excluding South Africa’s) stock markets fell 2.8% in May 2022 but are up 4.2% year to date. Read more: Business Insider
Zimbabwe’s government will maintain the country’s multi-currency system and legislate the use of the U.S. dollar for the next five years, finance minister Mthuli Ncube said on Monday. “The market’s lack of confidence in multi-currency is causing us problems, but I’m here to assure you it will remain in place for the next five years,” he said. The U.S. dollar is already in use but will now become legal tender to boost confidence, Ncube said at a news conference. Read more: CGTN
Stock futures were little changed early on Tuesday following a losing day as investors prepare to rebalance their portfolios with the end of the quarter fast approaching. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 7 points or 0.02%. S&P 500 futures edged down 0.09% and Nasdaq 100 futures declined 0.14%. The overnight action followed modest losses on Wall Street as a comeback rally stalled. The blue-chip Dow fell about 60 points, while the broader benchmark, the S&P 500, dipped 0.3% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 0.7%. The major averages rallied last week, posting their first positive week since May. Read more: CNBC
Sri Lanka has suspended sales of fuel for non-essential vehicles as it faces its worst economic crisis in decades. For the next two weeks only buses, trains, and vehicles used for medical services and transporting food will be allowed to fill up with fuel. Schools in urban areas have shut and officials have told the country’s 22 million residents to work from home. Read more: BBC News
Russia is believed to have defaulted on its debt for the first time since 1998 after missing a key deadline. Russia has the money to make a $100m payment, which was due on Sunday, but sanctions made it impossible to get the sum to international creditors. The country had been determined to avoid the default, which is a major blow to the nation’s prestige. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, said “statements of a default were absolutely unjustified”. He added that an intermediary bank had withheld the money and that the reserves were blocked “unlawfully”. Read more: BBC News
Capital Markets Report
In 79 trades recorded yesterday, 41,192 shares were transacted resulting in a turnover of K127,165. A share price gain was recorded in AECI of K2.40, and in CEC Africa on the quoted tier of K0.10. Trading activity was also recorded in Copperbelt Energy Corporation, Madison Financial Services, Standard Chartered Zambia, Zambia Breweries, ZAMEFA and Zanaco. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) closed at 6,855.04 points, 0.16% up from its previous close of 6,843.79 points. The market closed on a capitalization of K70,770,467,287 including Shoprite Holdings and K35,987,781,847 excluding Shoprite Holdings.