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Israeli President calls for stronger ties with Zambia
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Fitch downgrades US credit rating from AAA to AA+
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Government calls for commercial partnership with ZAFFICO
Story of the Day
In recent years countries around the world have met the challenge of developing and maintaining critical infrastructure by restructuring public utilities and private sector participation in the infrastructure sectors. Given the constraints on public budgets to finance these growing infrastructure needs, governments have sought to shift part of the burden of new infrastructure investment to the private sector. Many countries, Zambia included have enlisted private sector participation in infrastructure using concession contracts with private operators and developers. Read more
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Israeli President, Isaac Herzog has called for enhanced bilateral relations between Zambia and Israel. Speaking in Jerusalem today when President Hakainde Hichilema paid a courtesy on him at his residence, President Herzog said Israel and Zambia have had an outstanding relationship for many years now. President Herzog said there is a need to enhance the bilateral relationship that exists between Israel and Zambia saying his country believes in cooperation and advancement of relations. He said there is so much that can be done and achieved if the two countries worked together especially in areas of technology, agriculture, science and health, among others. Read more: ZNBC
Zambia has been projected to be among the top five performer countries in Africa over 2023-2024 following its improved macroeconomic environment, according to the 2023 Southern Africa Economic Outlook. The Outlook, launched last week by the African Development Bank (AfDB) named other projected top performer countries as Mozambique, Madagascar, Mauritius and Eswatini. In Zambia, the outlook pointed out an improved macroeconomic environment as one of the primary drivers of real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth. It stated that as outlined in the 2023-2025 medium term budget plan coupled with strengthened mining policy and improved electricity supply would also be the primary drivers of real GDP growth. Read more: Zambia Monitor
Government says it is concerned with the continued low levels of productivity in the country, which according to the Zambia productivity report contracted by 21 percent between 2019 and 2020. Labour and Social Security Minister, Brendah Tambatamba, said the report further showed that in terms of value added per hour in Kwacha terms, real estate industry recorded the highest labour productivity of K161.52 per hour. Zambia Monitor
President Hakainde Hichilema’s Finance and Investments Advisor Jito Kayumba says he will continue to visit government institutions for interactions and consultations. And Kayumba says CEEC has done more in the last two years compared to the previous 10 years combined. Recently, Kayumba visited the CEEC Director General to discuss ways of optimising the access to capital and feedback mechanisms among other things. He also visited the Chainda Council office where he met with council officials and various residents. Commenting on his recent visits in an interview, Kayumba said consultation was important as it helped in understanding the challenges citizens faced. Read more: News Diggers
Bank of Zambia Exchange Rates
Currency | Buying | Selling |
---|---|---|
USD | 18.9778 | 19.0278 |
GBP | 24.2271 | 24.2985 |
EUR | 20.8149 | 20.8716 |
ZAR | 1.0452 | 1.0485 |
In International Business News
The US government’s credit rating has been downgraded following concerns over the state of the country’s finances and its debt burden. Fitch, one of three major independent agencies that assess creditworthiness, cut the rating from the top level of AAA to a notch lower at AA+. Fitch said it had noted a “steady deterioration” in governance over the last 20 years. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called the downgrade “arbitrary”. It was based on “outdated data” from the period 2018 to 2020, she said. Investors use credit ratings as a benchmark for judging how risky it is to lend money to a government. The US is usually considered a highly secure investment because of the size and relative stability of the economy. However, this year saw another round of political brinkmanship over government borrowing. In June the government succeeded in lifting the debt ceiling to $31.4 trillion (£24.6 trillion) but only after a drawn-out political battle, which threatened to push the country into defaulting on its debts. Read more: BBC News
Asian markets fell broadly Wednesday after ratings agency Fitch downgraded its US debt credit rating from the highest level, citing “a steady deterioration in standards of governance.” Hong Kong’s Hang Seng (HSI) Index and Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 (N225) both tumbled 2%, leading losses in the region. Tech and financial stocks were down sharply. Japan’s broader Topix index dropped 1.1%. South Korea’s Kospi shed 1.4%, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.9% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index was down 0.8%. Asian markets may “tread cautiously” as investors turn wary of foreign holders selling their US Treasuries, said Stephen Innes, managing partner of SPI Asset Management. The selling of US Treasuries could lead to a further increase in US Treasuries yields, which typically caps stock market rallies, he added. Read more: CNN
The Bank of England, which looks set to raise interest rates again on Thursday, must weigh up the need to fight an inflation rate running at more than four times its target against the hit to the economy from 13 back-to-back rate hikes so far. Analysts and investors are mostly expecting a quarter-point increase in Bank Rate, taking it to a 15-year high of 5.25%. They will also be watching for the signals the BoE sends about further increases in the coming months. Governor Andrew Bailey and his colleagues say the economic impact of their run of rate hikes stretching back to late 2021 has yet to be felt fully. But they also say they must quash an inflation rate that is the highest among major economies. Read more: Reuters
Apple is likely to report a dip in iPhone sales in the April-June quarter as shoppers held out for a new model in a slow economy, making it important for the company to detail how it is using artificial intelligence to augment growth, analysts said. The world’s most valuable firm will wrap up Big Tech earnings on Thursday, with a likely 1.6% drop in total quarterly revenue, according to Refinitiv – its steepest drop in third-quarter revenue since 2016. IPhone sales likely fell more than 2% in the period, according to 24 analysts polled by Visible Alpha, compared with a near 3% increase a year earlier and a 1.5% rise in the quarter ended March. Read more: Reuters
Government has called for a commercial partnership between the Forestry Department and the Zambia Forestry and Forest Industries Corporation (ZAFFICO). Minister of Green Economy and Environment, Collins Nzovu, made the call during a visit to the ZAFFICO Kawambwa Plantation in Luapula Province on Monday. Nzovu expressed worry that there was a lot of timber getting into the country from East Africa yet the country had potential to produce timber for internal utilization. “A team of officers from the Forestry Department, the Zambia Meteorological Department and the Zambia Environmental Management Agency are in Luapula Province to inspect and monitor forest reserves, illegal harvesting of timber, mining and Meteorological stations,” he said. Nzovu said ZAFFICO was partly owned by government and should, therefore, leverage on the Scientific Research Unit which had the technical know – how in forestry. Read more
In 72 trades recorded yesterday 41,849 shares were transacted resulting in a turnover of K121,750.75. Price gains of K0.01 and K0.02 were recorded in CEC Zambia and Real Estate Investments Zambia respectively.Trading activity was also recorded in AECI, PUMA, Standard Chartered Bank Limited, Zambeef, ZAFFICO and ZANACO. on the quoted tier. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) closed at 8,365.80 points, 0.05% higher than its previous close at 8,361.81 points. The market closed on a capitalization of K77,346,471,095.47 including Shoprite Holdings and K42,563,785,655.47 excluding Shoprite Holdings.