Good morning. Here’s what you need to know
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ERB Chairman, Reynolds Bowa dismissed
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UN Agency Appeals for $228 Million to Help Drought-Hit Zambia
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Toyota posts record $31.9 billion profit
Total savings in Zambia’s capital markets closed the first quarter of this year at K102.67 billion driven by the increase in the market price of shares listed on the Lusaka Securities Exchange PLC. This is according to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chief Executive Officer, Phillip Chitalu, when giving an update on the performance of the Capital Markets for the first quarter of 2024 in Lusaka on Tuesday. Chitalu informed the media that total savings in the capital markets substantially increased by 10.08 percent during the first quarter of 2024, closing at K102.67 billion as at March 31, 2024. He explained that this growth was driven by an increase in the market price of shares listed on the Lusaka Securities Exchange Plc (LuSE). “Notable also, was the fund size increase in corporate bonds attributed to the registration and subsequent issuance of the first green bond by CEC Renewables amounting to US$53.5 million, or K1.34 billion in kwacha terms,” he said. Read more: Zambia Monitor
Haimbe made these remarks at the 2024 Nordic-African Ministers of Foreign Affairs meeting in Denmark, as per a statement issued by the Ministry in Lusaka on Tuesday. “Despite the physical separation between the Nordic region and the African continent by vast expanses of water and land, they are fundamentally linked by common aspirations,” he noted. Haimbe said the interests and ripple effects of globalization continue to pose challenges for both the Nordic region and Africa. He stressed the need for a new framework of institutions, rules, norms, and procedures to facilitate collective action and cooperation among countries, including other global actors, to address these challenges. Read more: Zambia Monitor
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs appealed for $228 million to help Zambia deal with what it said was the driest farming season in more than four decades. The nation’s cereal production is forecast to nearly halve because of the drought and 6.6 million people need help, the agency said in a statement Tuesday. Read more: Bloomberg
Reynolds Bowa has confirmed that he has been fired from his position as Energy Regulation Board (ERB) Chairperson, saying such roles are not meant to be held for a lifetime. And Bowa says he is certain that whoever his replacement will be will do more or less exactly what he himself was doing while at the helm of ERB. Meanwhile, Energy Minister Peter Kapala has disclosed that another person has already been appointed as ERB Board Chairperson in an acting capacity. Read more: News Diggers
In International News
TikTok has filed a lawsuit aiming to block a US law that would ban the video app in the country unless it is sold by its Chinese parent company. In the filing, the social media company called the act an “extraordinary intrusion on free speech rights” of the company and its 170 million American users. It said the US had put forward only “speculative concerns” to justify the measure and asked the court to stop it. President Joe Biden signed the bill into law last month, citing national security justifications. It followed years of debate in Washington, which has claimed that TikTok’s Chinese ownership raises the risk that data on US users could fall into the hands of the Chinese government or be used for propaganda. Read more: BBC News
Toyota has reported record profit and sales figures on the back of the weak yen and strong demand for hybrid vehicles. The Japanese car giant said on Wednesday that it netted a record profit of 4.94 trillion yen ($31.9bn) in the year to March on revenues of 45.1 trillion yen, double the previous year’s income. Global sales topped 10.3 million units, an all-time high, buoyed by strong demand in the home market and in North America and Europe. Sales of hybrid vehicles jumped 31 percent to 3.7 million units. The financial results far exceeded a company forecast in February of a 4.5 trillion yen net profit on revenues of 43.5 trillion yen. Toyota offered a more sober outlook for the current year, estimating profit would fall nearly 28 percent due to increased investment. The carmaker aims to sell 10.95 million vehicles worldwide this year, down 1.3 percent from 2023. Read more: Al Jazeera
Zimbabwe held an investment conference on May 2 and 3 in South Africa during which its officials explained that the country of 16-million people wants to use local and international investments into key sectors of its economy to further develop the country by 2030. This objective is encapsulated in its National Strategy Vision 2030 and, to attract investors, the country has entered into negotiations to settle compensation claims linked to land seizures from farmers two decades ago, as well as to settle its international debt default to tap into international finance markets. Read more: Mining Weekly
Differences between U.S.-led Western and China-aligned economic blocs threaten global trade cooperation and economic growth, a top official with the International Monetary Fund warned on Tuesday. IMF Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath said in a speech at Stanford University that events such as the global pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have disrupted global trade relations in ways not seen since the Cold War. “Increasingly, countries around the world are guided by economic security and national security concerns in determining who they trade with and invest in,” she said, adding that this has resulted in countries increasingly picking sides between China and the U.S. While strengthening economic resilience is “not necessarily bad,” the trend of fragmentation threatens a move away from a “rules-based global trading system” and a “significant reversal of the gains from economic integration,” Gopinath said. Read more: Read more: CNBC
Finally, Capital Markets News
In 155 trades recorded yesterday, shares 277,789 were transacted resulting in a turnover of K878,824.47. The following share price changes were recorded yesterday: +K0.01 in Standard Chartered Bank Limited, -K0.04 in PUMA, and +K0.01 in ZANACO and -K0.19 in Chilanga Cement. Trading activity was recorded in Bata, CEC Zambia, Zambeef and Zambia Sugar. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) closed at 12,850.10 points, -0.05% lower than its previous day close at 12,856.09 points. The market closed on a capitalization of K100,114,395,624.03 including Shoprite Holdings and 65,331,710,184.03 excluding Shoprite Holdings.
A total of 12 Govt Bond trades with total face value of 307,703,000 and turnover 238,965,310 were processed yesterday.