Story of the Day:
First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (“First Quantum” or the “Company”) (TSX:FM) announces preliminary production for the three months (“Q4”) and year ended December 31, 2022 and guidance for production, capital expenditure and costs for the years 2023 to 2025. “It is pleasing to see that the focus on operational improvements has resulted in a strong end to 2022. We continue to monitor the macroeconomic conditions closely and debt reduction remains a priority,” commented Tristan Pascall, Chief Executive Officer. “Disciplined and responsible growth continue to be a focus at First Quantum. The CP100 Expansion remains on schedule to exit 2023 at 100 million tonnes per annum and work is well underway for the S3 Expansion. We are also pleased that the Enterprise nickel project will enter first production this year. These projects are a key part of the Company’s brownfield growth strategy over the next several years.” Read more
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Zambia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) signed a $2-billion agreement to build solar plants in the Southern African country that will increase its generation base by more than half. The joint venture between Zambia’s state-owned power utility, Zesco, and a UAE government-owned renewable energy company, Masdar, targets the development of 2 000 MW of solar power projects, President Hakainde Hichilema said in a statement on his Facebook page. Read more: Engineering News
Smart Zambia has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Presight AI, a leading Artificial and Predictive Intelligence Company based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. ZANIS reports that the three-year MoU seeks to enhance collaborations between the two parties in the use of e-governance in Zambia. Smart Zambia National Coordinator, Percy Chinyama signed on behalf of Zambia while Presight Chief Executive Officer, Thomas Pramotedham signed on behalf of his company. Read more: ZNBC
Zambia and Tanzania have started the process to engage an equity partner to recapitalize the Tanzania Zambia Railway Authority -TAZARA. Transport and Logistics Minister FRANK TAYALI says the two countries have agreed to find a partner that will bring in capital to turn around the fortunes of the company. Mr. TAYALI says the Zambian Government has already set aside K57m in this year’s budget for the recapitalization process at the railway company. Mr. TAYALI said this in Mpika when he met TAZARA workers to discuss the future of the company. He said a new study on freight movement on the Zambia-Dar es Salaam Road corridor has revealed that about 2-thousand 5-hundred trucks move on the stretch every day. He added that the study has also revealed that once re-organised, TAZARA could in the next 10-years benefit from the movement of over 30m metric tonnes of cargo from the port of Dar es Salaam. Read more: ZNBC
Konkola Copper Mines Plc (KCM) Provisional Liquidator Celine Nair has denied recent claims by three unions representing workers at the company and its subsidiaries that the mine is not meeting production and planning requirements. The Mine Workers Union of Zambia (MUZ), the National Union of Mining and Allied Workers (NUMAW), and the United Mine Workers of Zambia (UMUZ) issued a joint statement suggesting that employees of KCM subsidiaries, the Konkola Mineral Resources Limited (KMRL) and KCM SmelterCo Limited, were reporting for work without being assigned tasks. In a press statement, Ms. Nair said “We are truly surprised with the stance the unions have taken because KCM has been transparent and maintains an open-door policy with the unions who are key stakeholders in matters affecting the company.” Read more: Lusaka Times
International Business and Finance
Microsoft Corp plans to cut thousands of jobs with some roles expected to be eliminated in human resources and engineering divisions, according to media reports on Tuesday. The expected layoffs would be the latest in the U.S. technology sector, where companies including Amazon.com Inc and Meta Platforms Inc have announced retrenchment exercises in response to slowing demand and a worsening global economic outlook. Read more: Reuters
UK inflation has fallen for a second month in a row but remains close to a 40-year high. Inflation, which measures the rate of price rises, fell to 10.5% in the year to December, compared to 10.7% in November, official figures show. The drop was due to fuel prices falling along with clothing and footwear prices, however, this was offset by rising costs in restaurants and hotels. The cost of food also continued to rise last month in shops and cafes. Read more: BBC News
The yen plunged on Wednesday after the Bank of Japan decided to maintain its ultra-easy monetary policy, defying market expectations that rising inflation could force the central bank to move away from low interest rates. The BOJ kept its yield curve control (YCC) targets unchanged as it concluded a two-day policy meeting on Wednesday. It left the short-term interest rate at an ultra-dovish minus 0.1% and the 10-year Japanese Government Bonds (JGB) yield around 0%. The YCC policy is a pillar of the central bank’s effort to keep interest rates low and stimulate the economy. Read more: CNN
Nigeria’s annual inflation dipped in the last month of 2022 to 21.34% after 10 months of recording increases. This follows a decline of 0.13% between November and December. This information was disclosed by the country’s National Bureau of Statistics on Monday, ahead of a central bank meeting to set interest rates next week. “In December 2022, the headline inflation rate eased to 21.34% compared to November 2022 headline inflation rate which was 21.47%.” Read more: Business Insider
Capital Markets Report
In 83 trades recorded yesterday, 15,424 shares were transacted resulting in a turnover of K53,190.57. A share price gain of K0.02 was recorded in Copperbelt Energy Corporation Zambia. Trading activity was recorded in Pamodzi, Real Estate Investments Zambia, Standard Chartered Bank Limited, Zambeef, Zanaco, Zambia Sugar and CEC Africa on the quoted tier. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) closed at 7,233.16 points up by 0.10% from its previous close of 7,225.70 points. The market closed on a capitalization of K72,416,350,084.85 including Shoprite Holdings and K37,633,664,644.85 excluding Shoprite Holdings.