Story of the Day
In the era of business-to-business (B2B), one company stands above the rest when it comes to delivering communication solutions that are not only end to end but also secure whilst being business centered. Wirepick has become the African standard for messaging for not only financial technology using entities but for Governments across Africa. Established over 10 years ago, Wirepick has carries traffic that is over circa. 10 million sms per day across the 25 African countries it operates. This includes the provision of VAS services to a number of industries in those countries. With governments, such as the Zambian one which has recently shown a positive trend of supporting technology companies, Wirepick can only be pleased with recent declarations by legislators who are keen to see the sector grow. “At present, we are happy to work with fintechs because we too are a software development company”, said an executive from Wirepick during a sit-down interview with this author. “We can help fintechs as well as governments meet their objectives”. Read more
Local Business and Finance Sponsored By Liquid Intelligent Technologies
World Bank and IMF officials are pressing Zambia’s creditors to accelerate negotiations on reducing the country’s official debt burden, but sources familiar with the process said they are unlikely to finalise an agreement until early next year. China and France have led a series of meetings in recent months to renegotiate Zambia’s bilateral debts under the common framework created by the Group of 20 major economies and the Paris Club of official creditors, but progress has been halting. Read more: MSN
Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) has disclosed that it has handled about 26 cases related to financial crimes from 2020 to date involving over K277 million. Speaking during a training workshop on cybercrimes and cyber security targeting those in the Financial Services sector organized by Bankers Association of Zambia (BAZ) in collaboration with DEC and Attorney General Alliance (AGA) Africa, Commission Deputy Regional Commander for Northern Region Mathias Kamanga, said this is a huge amount of money which could have been channeled to needy areas of the economy. Read more: Money FM
Finance and National Planning Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane says border areas should help the country to expand its markets. Dr. Musokotwane says doing so will attract investors who are seeking a wider market to sell their goods and services. Speaking when he toured the Mwami border in Eastern province, Dr. Musokotwane said the facility speaks to Government’s intentions to grow the economy. The Minister noted that border areas can also serve as sources of employment. Read more: ZNBC
Energy Minister Peter Kapala says ZESCO will effect revised power connection fees for domestic and commercial customers on January1st, 2023. Mr. Kapal says the Energy Regulation Board (ERB) has approved the fees and submitted to his office. He says the ERB is waiting for approval from Cabinet. Read more: ZNBC
International Business and Finance
The cost of energy is driving UK prices up at their fastest rate for 41 years, continuing the squeeze on household budgets. Inflation, the rate at which prices rise, hit 11.1% in the year to October, up from 10.1% in September. Soaring energy bills were behind the latest surge in prices, along with higher food and transport costs. Read more: BBC News
Manufacturing production increased in South Africa by 2.9% year-on-year in September, after rising by a revised 1.7 per cent in August. with the largest positive contributions made by the motor vehicles, parts and accessories and other transport equipment according to Statistics South Africa. Factory production rose 4.9 per cent month on month in September. Although, analysts had predicted a 2.35 per cent fall in annual terms in September and for output to be flat month on month. Read more: Africa News
Stock futures rose early on Wednesday as investors weighed another lighter-than-expected inflation report and looked ahead to retail sales data due out later. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 59 points, or about 0.18%. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures gained 0.16% and 0.19%, respectively. Read more: CNBC
The euro zone is expected to plunge into recession in the coming months with economists warning “it will not be shallow.” The 19-member zone that shares the euro currency has been under significant pressure since Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in February. A combination of sanctions against the Kremlin, an abrupt end to Russian gas imports, and the need to provide financial support to households and firms struggling with the energy crisis has darkened the outlook for the bloc — which at the start of the year was predicted to grow more rapidly than the United States. Read more: CNBC
Capital Markets Report
In 90 trades recorded yesterday, 15,348 shares were transacted resulting in a turnover of K47,912.61. Trading activity was recorded in Copperbelt Energy Corporation Zambia, Chilanga Cement, PUMA, Standard Chartered Bank Limited, Zambeef and Zanaco. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) maintaned its close at 7,251.95 points as there were no price movements. The market closed on a capitalization of K72,498,134,853.80 including Shoprite Holdings and K37,715,449,413.80 excluding Shoprite Holdings.