Good morning. Here’s what you need to know
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Zambia, Czech Republic Pen Three MOUs
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Zambian govt grants EIA for Konkola West exploration, triggering KoBold’s earn-in drilling to start
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Fitch downgrades China’s outlook over economic worries
In Local Business and Finance News
The Zambian Minister of Mines has approved the environmental-impact assessment (EIA) that provides for a subsidiary of KoBold Metals to earn into Tertiary Minerals Zambia’s exploration licence over the Konkola West Copper project. The KoBold subsidiary, Mwinilunga Exploration, will start drilling on the licence later this month. The Konkola West project covers an area of 72 km2 and is located 18 km north-west of Chingola in the Central African Copperbelt. The project targets projected deep down-dip and along-strike extensions of three deposits – Lubambe, Mingomba and Konkola – that are located to the east of the licence and extend north into the Musoshi mining complex in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Together these deposits comprise a 15-km-long contiguous zone of mineralisation that contains an endowment of more than 775-million tonnes grading between 2% and 3% copper. Konkola West, which is located about 2 km south-west of the Mingomba deposit has historic resource estimates of nine-million tonnes of contained copper. Read more: Mining Weekly
Zambia and the Czech Republic have signed Development Progression Agreements. The agreements are meant to assist Zambia in three critical areas. Speaking during the signing ceremony, President of the Senate of Czech Republic Milos Vystrcil said agreements will assist Zambia in development of the agricultural sector and will run from 2024 to 2030. Mr. Vystrcil said other areas to benefit are social and healthcare, as well as public administration and sustainable development. He said Zambia remains a priority country for development and cooperation for the Czech government. Read more: ZNBC
Copperbelt Minister, Elisha Matambo, has confirmed President Hakainde Hichilema will be on the Copperbelt for a five-day tour. Matambo said in Kitwe on Tuesday that President Hichilema would officiate at the European Union-Zambia Business Forum in Kitwe, meeting bus, taxi and truck drivers as well as bus operators in Ndola. On his list, the President would commission the Copperbelt Energy Cooperation (CEC) 60 megawatt (MW) power project. He would later do a ground breaking ceremony of 28 Shaft in Luanshya, commission the Chingola-Kasumbalesa road, commissioning of Chifubu Mini Hospital in Ndola as well as commissioning of a modern market in Mufurila. Further more, President Hichilema is expected to commission Nkana Water and Sanitation 40 mega litres Project in Kitwe’s Bulangililo. “This is one of the biggest water project since Independence,” Katambo claimed. Read more: Zambia Monitor
Prospect Resources continues to grow its battery minerals presence in sub-Saharan Africa by executing two separate SPAs to acquire the Mumbezhi Copper Project, located in the Zambian Copperbelt in north-western Zambia. The project is situated in the world-class Central African Copperbelt region of north-western Zambia and located on a single Large Scale Exploration Licence covering an area of approximately 356 km2. The area is prospective for large tonnage, low-to-medium grade copper-cobalt deposits. There are several major mines proximate to Mumbezhi, which are hosted in similar geological settings. Read more: Mining Review
President Hakainde Hichilema said his trip to China last September has resulted in a number of development projects being implemented in Zambia. President Hichilema said the de-watering of Shaft 28 in Luanshya is just one of many projects that have been embarked on since he engaged Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing last year. Speaking at State House when Chinese Deputy Minister in the International Department of the Chinese Communist Party’s –CPC- Central Committee Li Mingxiang paid a courtesy call on him. President Hichilema praised the Chinese ruling party for being behind the Asian country’s success. Read more: Lusaka Times
Zambia Airways expects the imminent delivery of two more B737s from its minority shareholder Ethiopian Airlines, according to Minister of Transport and Logistics, Frank Tayali. Speaking at a recent event to celebrate Ethiopian Airlines’ 25th anniversary of serving Zambia, he made an off-the-cuff remark, saying: “We are already at the stage where we are about to bring in two more 737 Boeing aircraft that are going to make Zambia Airways also a major competitor on the regional routes”. Zambia Airways currently operates one B737-800 and one DHC-8-Q400, both seconded by Ethiopian Airlines, which owns 45% of the airline, while the Zambian government, through the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), has the majority share of 55%. CH Aviation
In International News
Fitch downgraded its outlook on China’s credit rating on Tuesday, citing increasing risks to its finances as it faces economic challenges. Lowering its outlook from stable to negative does not automatically mean the ratings agency will downgrade China’s creditworthiness, but it increases the chances. Fitch has kept its rating on Chinese sovereign bonds at A+. The revision “reflects increasing risks to China’s public finance outlook as the country contends with more uncertain economic prospects amid a transition away from property-reliant growth to what the government views as a more sustainable growth model,” it said in a statement. Fitch believes the general government deficit will rise to 7.1% of gross domestic product in 2024 from 5.8% last year. This year’s deficit is expected to be the highest since 2020, when pandemic related controls began to weigh heavily on public coffers. China’s Finance Ministry has expressed “regret” over the revision. “We had a lot of in-depth communication with the Fitch Ratings team in the early stage, and the report partly reflected China’s views,” it said in a Wednesday statement. Read more: CNN
A report from the Washington-based United States Institute of Peace USIP says the US must refine its Africa policy with a focus on critical minerals, including boosting its diplomatic and commercial presence in African mining hubs. The USIP group added that the changes are needed to safeguard against export controls and market manipulation by geopolitical competitors. The report comes as the US tries to catch up or become a competitor with China whose investment in Africa is heavily concentrated in the extractive sector. Chinese firms owned or had stakes in 15 of the 19 cobalt producing mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) which produces more than 70% of the world’s cobalt. It also has a big trade partner in Zambia, the world’s sixth-largest copper producer and the second-largest cobalt producer in Africa. Read more: Africa News
Boeing is facing new pressure after a whistleblower reported safety concerns over the manufacturing of some of its planes to US regulators. Engineer Sam Salehpour accused Boeing of taking shortcuts in the construction of its 787 and 777 jets. He claimed he was “threatened with termination” after raising concerns with bosses. But Boeing said the claims were “inaccurate” and added it was confident its planes were safe. “The issues raised have been subject to rigorous engineering examination under [Federal Aviation Administration] oversight,” the company said. Shares in the plane manufacturer sank almost 2% on Tuesday after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it was investigating the claims, and the company reported it had delivered just 83 planes to customers in the first three months of the year – the smallest number since 2021. The whistleblower complaint, which was first reported by the New York Times, is the latest incident to focus attention on the safety of planes made by US-based Boeing, one of the world’s two major producers of commercial planes. Read more: BBC News
The boss of one of the world’s biggest banks has warned US interest rates could climb to 8%. Jamie Dimon, the head of JPMorgan Chase, said his bank has prepared for interest rates to jump because of “persistent inflationary pressures”. Central banks around the world have been busy raising rates in a bid to dampen rising prices. But with US inflation gradually easing, the overwhelming expectation is for the Federal Reserve to cut rates this year. Markets are pricing in two quarter-point rate cuts in 2024. In his annual letter to shareholders, Mr Dimon said that the bank was ready for a “very broad range” of rates, from 2% to 8% or even higher, potentially pushed up because of high government spending and the need to curb price rises. Mr Dimon’s comments come as US interest rates rest in the range of 5.25% to 5.5% – higher than they have been for more than 20 years. Read more: BBC News
Finally, Capital Markets News
In 203 trades recorded yesterday, 604,304 shares were transacted resulting in a turnover of K2,217,900.79. The following price changes were recorded yesterday: +K0.01 in British American Tobacco Zambia, +K0.01 in Chilanga Cement, +K0.02 in PUMA and +K 0.01 in Standard Chartered Bank Limitred. Trading activity was also recorded in Bata, CEC Zambia, Real Estate Investments Zambia, Zambeef, ZANACO, Zambia Sugar and ZAFFICO. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) closed at 12,769.61 points, 0.05% lower than it’s previous close at 12,762.75 points. The market closed on a capitalization of K99,719,345,127.61 including Shoprite Holdings and 64,936,659,687.61 excluding Shoprite Holdings.
7 Govt Bond trades with total face value of K167,717,000 were processed yesterday, resulting in a total turnover of K109,557,080.