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President Hichilema signs into law the National Pension Scheme Amendment Bill 2023
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Global corporate defaults highest since the pandemic in 2020
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Puma Energy shareholders approved a final dividend of ZMW 0.0722 Kwacha per share
Story of the Day
The alliance, supported by leading US and African companies, aims to accelerate e-commerce and digital trade in Africa while addressing legal, regulatory, and logistical bottlenecks. The Prosper Africa Tech for Trade Alliance is aligned with two signature White House initiatives, Prosper Africa, and Digital Transformation with Africa (DTA), which aim to increase two-way trade and investment between the US and African countries and strengthen digital access, literacy, and digital enabling environments across the continent. Read more
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President Hakainde Hichilema signed into law, the National Pension Scheme Amendment Bill 2023 which fulfills the UPND promise of allowing for the partial withdrawal of pensions. President Hichilema said the new law will give citizens the opportunity to reinvest the funds into various ventures and assets of their choice. As a result more jobs will be created, contributing to Zambia’s economic development agenda. National Pension Scheme Amendment Bill 2023, replaces the National Pension Scheme Act, 1996, so as to allow members to access a pre-retirement benefit, among others. Read more: Lusaka Times
Zambia on Tuesday launched a platform that will be used to foster cooperation between the public and the private sector to enhance healthcare services. Minister of Health Sylvia Masebo said that even if the government is committed to the attainment of universal health coverage, resource constraints are hindering the goal hence the importance of collaborating with the private sector to enhance healthcare delivery. “As we know, universal health coverage is only reached when we provide access for the whole population to good-quality health services without the risk of financial hardship,” she said during the launch. The government has been devising ways to bridge the financing gap in the health sector, she said, adding that the private sector has emerged as an important source of resources necessary for attaining universal health coverage by complementing the public sector. Read more: China.org
A number of farmers have reportedly confirmed participation for this year’s AgriTech Expo Zambia, an annual event servicing the needs of the agri-value chain in the country and its neighbouring countries. The expo billed for Chisamba caters to large scale commercial farmers as well as emerging and small-scale farmers. Countries such as German, United Kingdom, China, Czech Republic, South Africa, Israel, Jordan and Uganda are said to have lined up for the expo. The theme for this year is: “Stay Ahead of the Industry.” Syngenta Zambia said the event would bring significant value to the agri-business sector in the country by providing opportunities for networking, knowledge sharing, and business interactions. Read more: Zambia Monitor
The International Monetary Fund -IMF is satisfied with the way Zambia has performed with the first installment of the $1.3b financial bailout. IMF African Department Director Abebe Selassie says the Zambian government has put in a lot in ensuring that it meets all benchmarks under the credit facility. Mr. Selassie says the private sector and the civil society in Zambia has expressed satisfaction with the positive direction in which the Zambian economy is headed. Responding to a question from ZNBC News during the launch of the Economic Outlook for Africa in Washington DC, Mr. Selassie said, the IMF team which just concluded the review of Zambia’s performance is satisfied with the work done so far. Mr. Selassie says the IMF is waiting for Zambia and it’s creditors to sign a Memorandum of Understanding -MoU- on debt restructuring before the report can be handed over to the IMF Board. Read more: ZNBC
Bank of Zambia Exchange Rates
Currency | Buying | Selling |
---|---|---|
USD | 17.1913 | 17.2413 |
GBP | 21.3653 | 21.4343 |
EUR | 18.8313 | 18.8930 |
ZAR | 0.9451 | 0.9482 |
In International Business News
More companies around the world defaulted on their debts in the first three months of this year than in any quarter since late 2020, when businesses were still hamstrung by restrictions to stop the spread of Covid. In a report Tuesday, credit rating agency Moody’s said 33 of the corporations it rates defaulted on their debts in the first quarter, the highest level since the last quarter of 2020 when 47 companies defaulted. Almost half, or 15 companies, defaulted last month — the highest monthly count since December 2020. Defaulting firms included Silicon Valley Bank, which collapsed in March, its holding company SVB Financial Group and Signature Bank. Read more: CNN
HSBC’s biggest shareholder called on the bank to create a separately listed Asian business headquartered in Hong Kong to fix what it sees as a lack of competitiveness. In a strongly worded statement Tuesday, the CEO of Ping An Asset Management said that despite improvements, the insurer remained “deeply concerned” about HSBC’s financial performance relative to rivals. “It is necessary for HSBC to push for structural reform to fundamentally address HSBC’s underlying market competitiveness issues, improve performance, enhance value and accelerate growth opportunities in Asia,” Michael Huang wrote. “The HK-listed business would be able to focus on investing resources in Asia and being more attuned to local Asia market dynamics,” he added. Ping An Asset Management holds just over 8% of HSBC’s shares. Read more: CNN
Soaring prices for bread, cereal and chocolate meant the cost of living rose more than expected last month. Inflation, which measures the rate of price rises, fell to 10.1% in the year to March from 10.4% in February. It was widely expected to fall below 10%, but food prices continued to soar, rising at their fastest rate in 45 years. Falling inflation doesn’t mean prices are falling, but just that the rate of price rises is slowing. Read more: BBC News
Analysts at JPMorgan and Citi raised their full-year forecasts for China’s economy after it delivered an impressive first-quarter gross domestic product growth of 4.5% on Tuesday. JPMorgan raised its 2023 growth outlook to 6.4%, up from a previous forecast of 6%, saying the latest quarterly report points to further growth ahead. “The strong 1Q GDP report points to a strong post-reopening recovery,” JPMorgan’s chief China economist Haibin Zhu said in a Tuesday note. “A range of factors have led the strong rebound in 1Q activity, including a notable rebound in travel-related consumption and services,” Zhu wrote. “The stronger-than-expected 1Q GDP reading lifts our full-year GDP growth forecast,” he said, adding that China’s recovery “will likely continue in the near term” before its growth momentum starts softening in the second half of the year. Read more: CNBC
European Union officials on Tuesday called for a new and joint approach toward China, following French President Emmanuel Macron’s controversial comments on Taiwan earlier this month. However, this new strategy is unlikely to please the United States. The Biden administration has so far adopted a particularly critical tone toward Beijing and put forward measures to restrict China’s influence, including export restrictions on certain technologies. It has pushed European nations to do the same. European nations currently have different views on dealing with Beijing. Some capitals favor a closer relationship with the U.S., given its critical role on security and defense — while other countries are afraid of antagonizing China and endangering deep economic ties. This has resulted in a divided approach toward China. “I believe we can, and we must, carve out our own distinct European approach that also leaves space for us to cooperate with other partners, too,” Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission — the executive arm of the EU — said during a speech Tuesday. Read more: CNBC
At the 61st Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Puma Energy Zambia Plc (“PUMA”), held on Thursday 30th March 2023 at 10:00 hours at Neelkanth Sarovar Premiere Hotel, Lusaka, Zambia, a final dividend of ZMW 0.0722 Kwacha per share for the financial year ended 31st December 2022 was approved by the Members.
In accordance with the requirements of the Securities Act No. 41 of 2016 of the Laws of Zambia and the Listings Rules of the Lusaka Securities Exchange, notice is hereby given that the Final Dividend shall be payable to shareholders registered in the Company’s books at the close of business on Friday 12th May, 2023 being the record date. Read more
In 30 trades recorded yesterday, 29,406 shares were transacted resulting in a turnover of K92,177.70. Share price gains of K0.02 and K0.03 were recorded in BATA and Zambia Sugar respectively. Trading activity was also recorded in AECI, CEC Zambia, Standard Chartered Bank Limited and Zambia Breweries. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) closed at 7,987.89 points, 0.03% points higher than its previous close at 7,985.36 points. The market closed on a capitalization of K75,701,512,416.33 including Shoprite Holdings and K40,918,826,976.33 excluding Shoprite Holdings.
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