Good morning. Here’s what you need to know
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Zambia requires $34.7 billion for national climate adaptation plan implementation by 2035
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G7 to discuss global trade risks after US tariffs on China
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Copper futures hit record high as data center build-up, EV growth fuels demand
In Local Business and Finance News
President Hakainde Hichilema has called for joint investment partnerships between Zambia and Japan in the areas of mining, agriculture, energy and tourism. Hichilema said this should also be coupled with other sectors of interest between the two countries as a way of boosting the economies. The President said this when the Japanese Ambassador to Zambia, Takeuchi Kazuyuki, led a delegation to State House on Tuesday to discuss key areas of mutual cooperation. The discussion on key areas of mutual cooperation is in relation to the marking of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Zambia and Japan. Zambia Monitor
Minister of Green Economy has urged the private sector, including financial institutions to help government in securing climate finance and exploring ideas on how to accelerate the financing of the country’s mitigation and adaption efforts. Officiating at the ZANACO Climate Finance Summit, Engineer Collins Nzovu said Zambia like many African countries is in dire need for climate financing, and securing the much-needed resources will go a long way in reversing the impact of climate change. Engineer Nzovu reiterated that the recently launched Green Growth Strategy which will foster sustainable economic growth and development, will require US$10.4 billion from 2024 to 2030 and these are colossal sums of money that cannot come from the treasury alone. “Zambia has developed a nationally determined contribution (NDC) as our pledge to the global efforts in addressing climate change under the Paris Agreement, we revised this Instrument in 2020 and its implementation up to 2030 requires US$17.2 billion.” “In 2023, with support from the Green Climate Fund (GCF), we finalized preparing our national adaptation plan (NAP) which provides a road map for building our resilience in various sectors, this plan 2 requires US$34.7 billion,” Engineer Nzovu stated. Money FM
Government has reiterated its commitment to procuring 650,000 metric tonnes of maize to avert the looming hunger situation caused by the prolonged dry spell. Speaking during a familiarization tour of media facilities in Chirundu, Information and Media Permanent Secretary Thabo Kawana, echoed President Hakainde Hichilema’s stance, emphasising that no Zambian should go hungry. “The private sector has been encouraged to come on board so that government, through the Food Reserve Agency (FRA), can have enough maize stock to feed the nation,” Kawana said. Read more: Zambia Monitor
President Hakainde Hichilema has been appointed as the chairperson for the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) to champion foundational learning on the continent. Education Minister Douglas Syakalima said President Hichilema was appointed because of his passion for education and the strides that Zambia had made to improve the quality of education in Zambia from early childhood education to higher education. Read more: Times of Zambia
In International News
The Group of Seven (G7) major democracies meeting in Italy next week will discuss the risk of fragmentation in global trade after “very tough” tariffs imposed by the United States against China, Italian Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said. U.S. President Joe Biden unveiled this week a bundle of steep tariff increases on an array of Chinese imports including electric vehicle (EV) batteries, computer chips and medical products, risking an election-year standoff with Beijing in a bid to woo voters who give his economic policies low marks. The meeting on May 24-25 among the G7 finance ministers in the northern Italian town of Stresa will reflect on the “fragmentation of global trade, with the latest moves by the American government which has shown its cards with very tough measures against China”, Giorgetti said. He was being interviewed for a conference in Milan on Tuesday organised by Italian newspaper La Verita. “The world as we have known it is finishing,” Giorgetti said, adding that “a trade war is underway which reflects geopolitical tensions” and Europe still needs to carve out its own role in the evolving scenario. Read more: Reuters
China has vowed to resolutely defend its interests in the face of huge new US tariffs and warned that the trade barriers would affect the wider relationship between the two economic superpowers. President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced that tariffs on $18 billion worth of imports of Chinese electric vehicles and an array of other products would soar over the next two years. The White House said the measures were designed to protect American workers and businesses in the face of China’s unfair trade practices, including “flooding global markets with artificially low-priced exports.” China “firmly opposes” the new tariffs, the country’s Commerce Ministry said in a statement. Read more: CNN
Copper futures hit a record high on Wednesday as demand for the base metal stays strong amid a rush to build data centers and the continued electrification of the global economy. Copper prices on the NYMEX hit $5.02 per pound, according to data from FactSet. The metal has gained more than 25% so far this year. Demand for copper is widely considered a proxy for economic health, with metal being key to the energy transition ecosystem. It is integral to manufacturing electric vehicles, power grids and wind turbines, especially as the global economy electrifies. Copper demand from electric vehicles and the transportation sector overall is set to increase by around 5% this year, according to forecasts by the Bank of America. Copper is also a critical material for cables used in data centers, whose growth has fueled demand for the red metal especially as an artificial intelligence boom generates more need for data centers. “With demand from EVs still growing, albeit a slower pace, the focus has shifted towards the copper needed in the data center build-out,” the BofA note added. Data centers rely on copper for various electrical applications — electrical connectors, busbars, power cables. Read more: CNBC
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reiterated Tuesday that inflation is falling more slowly than expected and will keep the central bank on hold for an extended period. Speaking to the annual general meeting of the Foreign Bankers’ Association in Amsterdam, the central bank leader noted that the rapid disinflation that happened in 2023 has slowed considerably this year and caused a rethink of where policy is headed. “We did not expect this to be a smooth road. But these [inflation readings] were higher than I think anybody expected,” Powell said. “What that has told us is that we’ll need to be patient and let restrictive policy do its work.” While he expects inflation to come down through the year, he noted that hasn’t happened so far. “I do think it’s really a question of keeping policy at the current rate for longer than had been thought,” he said. However, Powell also repeated that he does not expect the Fed to be raising rates. Read more: CNBC
Finally, Capital Markets News
In 85 trades recorded yesterday, 22,306 shares were transacted resulting in a turnover of K206,749.07. The following price changes were recorded yesterday: +K0.19 in Airtel and +K0.01 in CEC Africa on the quoted tier. Trading activity was also recorded in CEC Zambia, Chilanga Cement, National Breweries, PUMA, Standard Chartered Bank Limited, ZANACO and Zambia Sugar. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) closed at 12,862.23 points, 0.03% higher than its previous day close at 12,857.83 points. The market closed on a capitalization of K100,168,845,010.20 including Shoprite Holdings and K65,386,159,570.20 excluding Shoprite Holdings.
A total of 6 Govt Bond trades with total facevalue of 5,811,000 and turnover 3,990,330 were processed yesterday.
