Story of the Day:
The budget allocation for the agricultural sector will be a forward step into the new dawn as government seeks to breathe life into their manifesto. The budget allocation in accordance to the 10 functions of government, saw 19.5% belonging to the economic affairs within which agriculture belongs. Read more
Local Business and Finance Sponsored By Liquid Intelligent Technologies
The Africa Export and Import Bank has pledged to help Zambia set up a battery manufacturing plant, due to one this country’s biggest mineral export, Cobalt. Africa Export and Import Bank, led by Chief Executive Officer, Benedict Ormah says his institution has an investment portfolio of US$2.4 billion which Zambia can benefit from. Read more: ZNBC
The National Assembly has approved a report of the Parliamentary Committee on National Economy, Trade and Labour matters to repeal the Sale of Goods Act of 1893. The application to repeal the Sale of Goods Act of 1893, an international law enforced in Zambia through the Extent of Application Act was sent to the Trade and Labour matters for scrutiny recently. Read more: ZNBC
Government should focus spending on economic sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing and tourism since they are sustainable earners of foreign exchange that will help stabilise the Kwacha. Policy Monitoring Research Centre (PMRC) executive director Bernadette Zulu said in a statement yesterday that sustainability of the Kwacha appreciation is important in reducing the inflation rate due to cheaper imports and lower prices. Read more: Zambia Daily Mail
The cost of doing business has remained high for importers and exporters due to duplication of fees being charged by different border agencies, a Business Regulatory Review Agency (BRRA) study report has revealed. Read more: Zambia Daily Mail
International Business and Finance
There is no doubt that Africa is currently witnessing a ‘banking evolution’ led by fintech startups. As it seems, traditional financial services providers (banks to be precise) are scrambling to catch up with the trend. Well, for years the banks had their chance to transform the sector. But they were reluctant and slow until now, thanks to competition posed by the fintechs. But how can these banks catch up and possibly gain an edge? Read more: Business Insider
US lawmakers have voted to raise the national debt limit, just days before a potential US credit default. The measure, which President Joe Biden is expected to sign into law in the coming days, raises the US borrowing limit by $2.5 trillion. Treasury officials had warned that the economy could slip into a recession if it was not raised by mid-December. Read more: BBC News
Germany is teetering on the brink of recession this winter as supply bottlenecks and a wave of new coronavirus cases hobble the economy. Europe’s largest economy will shrink 0.5% in the fourth quarter of this year, compared with the third, and stagnate in the first three months of 2022. Read more: CNN
Toyota is pumping more than $35 billion into electric vehicle as it tries to catch up with other global automakers in the race to cleaner cars. The world’s biggest carmaker announced Tuesday that it would invest 4 trillion yen ($35.2 billion) in developing battery-powered electric vehicles between 2022 and 2030 in a bid to mount a more serious challenge to rivals such as Tesla, GM and Volkswagen. Read more: CNN
Capital Markets Report Sponsored By ZCCM-IH
In 78 trades recorded yesterday, 1,810,923 shares were transacted resulting in a turnover of K12,176,822.05. Trading activity was recorded in Airtel, British American Tobacco Zambia, Copperbelt Energy Corporation, CEC Africa, Lafarge, Zambia Breweries, Zambeef Zambia Sugar, and Zanaco.The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) closed at 5,624.74 with a percentage change of 0.60.
Chart of the Day: