Story of the Day
The North-Western Province Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NWPCCI) has welcomed First Quantum Minerals’ US$1.35 billion investment package in two new projects in the province, and says its members are ready to capitalise on the opportunities. The mining firm recently approved plans to invest US$1.25 billion in its expansion of Kansanshi’s operations in Solwezi – known as the ‘S3’ project – and a final US$100 million to start its $250 million Enterprise nickel project in Kalumbila. NWPCCI president Mukumbi Kafuta said the chamber expected the investment would lead to social and economic development, not only in Solwezi, and not only in North-Western Province, but also in Zambia as a whole. Read more
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Zambia National Service says plans are under way to put up a multi-million kwacha Cannabis farm in Luapula Province. Zambia National Service Commander Lieutenant General Maliti Solochi says land for the establishment of the farm has already been identified in Mwense District adding that modalities are being considered towards the establishment of the farm. Read more: ZNBC
OIL Marketing Companies Association of Zambia president Dr Kafula Mubanga says his association anticipates a 3 percent reduction in the fuel pump price during this month’s price review. And Dr Mubanga has urged government to come up with modalities that will ensure that citizens benefit from consecutive fuel price reductions through reduced commodity prices. In an interview, Thursday, Dr Mubanga said the anticipated reduction for this month plus last month’s, should have a direct effect on the price of transport and electricity. Read more: News Diggers
Mines and minerals development minister Paul Kabuswe says his ministry has finalized and handed over the Mining Audit report to president Hakainde Hichilema and will soon announce the resumption of the issuance of mining rights. Mr. Kabuswe said the audit report was handed over to the President and new mining recommendations have been made. He said very soon the re-opening of mining licence rights will be announced adding that the mining licence was suspended two months ago to allow for the cleaning of the system. Read more: Lusaka Times
Former Ambassador to Ethiopia, Emmanuel Mwamba has called on the Zambian authorities to cancel the Agreement ZCCM-IH immediately has with Glencore Plc. Mr Mwamba said the Supreme Court in Zambia in May 2020, found Glencore guilty of tax evasion and fined it $13million. He said with these malpractices, the Zambian authorities must have sanctioned Glencore heavily and forced it to exit from Mopani Copper Mines. Read more: Lusaka Times
As the world grapples with pandemic and a Russo – Ukraine war aftermath impacting financial and commodity markets, emerging and frontier markets (EM) are continuously bearing the brunt. Excessive inflation, dubbed one of the biggest hurdles of 2022, in the west has triggered commencement of aggressive rate hike cycles in response, that are supporting higher treasury and guilt yields which are on the downside eroding purchasing power in EM debt sales. Zambia’s central bank in its Friday 27 May auction, sold K1.49 billion of the K2.6 billion of bonds on offer representing a 67.0% subscription ratio. Read more: The Business Telegraph
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The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has accused Rwanda of supporting the resurgence of M23 rebels, a development that has renewed long-standing tensions between the neighbouring countries. Unfortunately, the impasse is not only a foreign policy one, as it is already affecting businesses. Over the weekend, RwandAir had to cancel planned flights to the DRC after Kinshasa announced that the carrier was banned from its airspace. Read more: Business Insider
European Union leaders have agreed on a plan to block more than two-thirds of Russian oil imports. The ban is a compromise that will not affect pipeline oil imports for now, following opposition from Hungary. European Council chief Charles Michel said the deal cut off “a huge source of financing” for the Russian war machine. It is part of a sixth package of sanctions approved at a summit in Brussels, which all 27 member states have had to agree on. Mr Michel said the EU had also agreed hard-hitting measures targeting Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank, and three state-owned broadcasters. Read more: BBC News
President Joe Biden plans to discuss high inflation in a meeting on Tuesday with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, a White House official tells CNN. Biden is scheduled to meet with Powell at a time when prices are rising rapidly on everything from gasoline and food to housing. Biden will also discuss the “state of the American and global economy and discuss the president’s top economic priority: addressing inflation to transition from an historic economic recovery to stable, steady growth that works for working families,” Read more: CNN
S&P 500 futures rose on Monday night, as Wall Street tried to build on last week’s momentum. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gained 36 points, or 0.1%. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 0.3% and 0.8%, respectively. The U.S. stock market didn’t open Monday due to the Memorial Day holiday. Those moves follow the best weekly gains for the Dow and S&P 500 since November 2020. Read more: CNBC
Capital Markets Report
In 78 trades recorded yesterday, 50,701 shares were transacted resulting in a turnover of K183,299.14 . Trading activity was recorded in AECI, Airtel, CEC Africa, Copperbelt Energy Corporation, Investrust, Chilanga Cement, National Breweries, Real Estate Investments Limited, Standard Chartered Zambia, Zambia Breweries and Zanaco. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) closed at 6,799.03 points. The market closed on a capitalization of K70,477,469,993 including Shoprite Holdings and K35,694,784,553 excluding Shoprite Holdings.