Story of the Day:
The second week of trading in December was weaker for both the equities and corporate bond markets in comparison to the first trading week of the month. Both bond and equities trading fell sharply and the former completely eclipsed the latter in terms of sales. Read more
Local Business and Finance
Drought has plunged millions of Zambians and Zimbabweans into darkness as hydro-power dams drain, and their governments’ debt is making matters worse. The region’s biggest supplier, Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd., doesn’t have enough capacity to keep the lights on in its home market, South Africa. Read more: Bloomberg
Zambia’s crocodile industry faces imminent closure as the imposition of a 10 percent export duty takes its toll, the country’s producers association said on Tuesday. Read more: IOL News
Vice President Inonge Wina says Zambia needs skilled human capital to attain a middle income status by the year 2030. Mrs Wina says Government has prioritised human capital development in the seventh national development plan. Read more: ZNBC
In a bid to recover over K170 million owed to it in various charges, the Kitwe City Council (KCC) has initiated an amnesty programme to give huge discounts to residents and businesses that will pay something during the festive period. Read more: Zambia Daily Mail
The continued issuance of import permits for processed meats and meat products has annoyed the Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU) which has demanded that the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries immediately explains why it is allowing foreign meat products on the local market. Read more: News Diggers
International Business and Finance
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) board has approved the disbursement of around $368 million to Democratic Republic of Congo, the Fund said on Monday – a resumption of lending to the Central African country for the first time since 2012. Read more: Reuters
Chinese corporate debt is the “biggest threat” to the global economy, warned a Moody’s Analytics economist, who described such risks as a “very significant fault line.” Read more: CNBC
Boeing’s 737 Max disaster is far from over, and it’s putting the company’s shares under increasing pressure. Over the past two days alone, the company has seen $11 billion of market value wiped away as it decided how to proceed with the production of the 737 Max. Read more: Business Insider
Corporate boards lacking diversity sometimes claim they can’t find qualified women to become directors, but the data tell another story. The percentage of female board members with financial expertise is equal to or greater than the percentage of men with similar backgrounds, according to data released Monday by MSCI ESG Research as part of an annual report about women on boards. Read more: Investment News
UK unemployment fell to its lowest level since January 1975 in the three months to October this year. The number of people out of work fell by 13,000 to 1.281 million, Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures show. Read more: BBC News
An international advocacy group has accused Apple, Google, Microsoft, Dell and Tesla of “knowingly benefiting from” the use of young children to mine cobalt in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Read more: CNN
Capital Markets Report
In 9 trades recorded yesterday, 2,853 shares were transacted, resulting in a market turnover of K3,714. Copperbelt Energy Corporation and Lafarge recorded a share price loss of K0.01 each. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) closed at 4,250.62 points down by 0.10% from its previous close of 4,255.01 points. The market closed on a capitalization of K56,497,805,422 including Shoprite Holdings and K22,258,599,442 excluding Shoprite Holdings.
Chart of the Day:
