Story of the Day:
Minister of Mines and Minerals Development Hon. Richard Musukwa, MP this weekend officially inaugurated Maamba Collieries Ltd.’s most recent acquisition, the state-of-the-art, high technology Surface Miner. Maamba Collieries Ltd thus becomes the first mining firm in Zambia to operate this state-of-the-art Surface Miner, which can be used to mine in layers by using a milling drum, without the need to drill & blast. Read more
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Zambia should treat mineral royalty payments as a deductible expense in order to avoid double taxation and attract investment, the Zambia Chamber of Mines said on Monday. Read more: Reuters
Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry Permanent Secretary Mushuma Mulenga says Zambia will ratify the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement before 5th December this year. Mr. Mulenga says all the 55 countries are expected to ratify the agreement by 5th December to enable the start of trading by 1st January 2021. Read more: ZNBC
The Center for Trade Policy and Development has backed government’s move to cancel the $1.1 billion pipeline loans. Senior Researcher for Public Finance, Gabriel Pollen says the proposed cancellation as highlighted in next year’s budget is a positive move by government. Read more: ZNBC
Zambia‘s very weak credit profile (Ca stable) reflects “unsustainable debt dynamics and heightened liquidity” Moody’s Investor Service said this month. The global ratings agency added and external vulnerability pressures in the context of exceptionally difficult global conditions, the agency said in an annual report.” The country’s credit fundamentals will likely remain very weak for the foreseeable future.” Read more: Yahoo
Minister of Housing and Infrastructure Development Vincent Mwale has invited Indian companies to consider Zambia as the best destination for investment in infrastructure development. Read more: Lusaka Times
In 2019, about one million tourists visited the Victoria Falls. Now, only a handful of locals view the Mosi o Tunya. The Livingstone Tourism Association has warned that if the situation continues, the tour operators in Zambia’s tourist capital, may be forced to shut down their operations. Read more: Xinhua
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The recent downgrade of Zambia’s rating could herald a series of sovereign defaults in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA), where several rated sovereigns face acute liquidity pressures and very high debt levels, and where the debt burden has risen sharply across most sovereigns over the last decade, says Fitch Ratings. Read more: Fitch Ratings
A Bank of England (BoE) deputy governor has spoken out against setting negative interest rates, which would bring the cost of borrowing below zero. The Bank has so far responded to the pandemic by cutting rates to just 0.1%. Read more: BBC News
The US stock market rallied on Monday, ignoring negative headlines that weighed on the market over the past few weeks in favor of hoping for a stimulus deal out of Washington. The Dow closed 1.5%, or 410 points, higher. The index had been up more than 500 points at its high point. The broader S&P 500 climbed 1.6%. These gains come after four consecutive weeks of losses. The Nasdaq Composite finished 1.9% higher. Read more: CNN
Hong Kong-listed shares of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp fell more than 7% on Monday after the United States imposed restrictions on exports to China’s biggest chip maker, citing a risk of military use. Read more: Reuters
Investors should be putting their money in gold now, as it represents a “very good hedge” ahead of risk events such as the U.S. election, UBS Global Wealth Management told CNBC. Read more: CNBC
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In 1 trade recorded yesterday, 600 shares were transacted yielding a market turnover of K12,000. Trading activity was recorded in AEL Zambia. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) maintained its close at 3,823.58 points, as there were no share price movements. The market closed on a capitalization of K55,463,674,390 including Shoprite Holdings and K21,224,468,410 excluding Shoprite Holdings.
Chart of the Day: