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Data from ZamStats yesterday showed that headline inflation in Zambia slowed for the first time in April, albeit the decline was marginal. Spe-cifically, headline CPI came in at 22.7% y/y from 22.8% y/y in March. A breakdown of the data shows that food inflation decelerated to 27.2% y/y from March’s record high of 27.8% y/y,...
It would seem that the global investment community is hopeful of an improvement in the broader fiscal outlook for the country which is demonstrated in the yield on the 2027 USD bond. According to Bloomberg, the bond is yielding some 19.612%, which is a whisker of the year to date low of 19.605% level recorded...
The mining sector is in the spotlight this morning following the death of an illegal miner shot by police at Mopani Copper Mines in Mufulira on Friday. Police were said to be struggling to push back the illegal miners before one was killed. Mines Minister Richard Musukwa condemned the illegal miners, locally known as Jerabos...
The news wires yesterday focused squarely on the political front, with President Edgar Lungu launching the Patriotic Front manifesto for the next five years. The Lusaka Times reported the following – The Head of State said the PF Government would create a Stabilization Fund to cushion challenges and work towards eliminating road taxes in light...
Local news flow was on the thin side yesterday however the international markets as always provided a smorgasbord of influences and headlines. Internationally, Gold and Bitcoin have diverged; both are seen as an alternative store of value but have behaved somewhat differently recently. Gold has managed to notch up gains clearing the $1780.00/oz mark, while...
Mining, as always, is a focal point for Zambia. According to Kitco, Midnight Sun Mining, the Toronto listed miner, announced yesterday that Rio Tinto Mining and Exploration has commenced its initial 2021 exploration campaign on Midnight Sun’s Solwezi Licence. The initial 2021 work program budget is USD $3,200,000 and is expected to be completed in...
Speaking in an interview, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Director Abebe Aemro said that the IMF still hopes to reach a deal with Zambia on an economic program that will form the basis of the country’s planned debt restructuring. According to Aemro, “I hope we can move for-ward by reaching agreements and get broad endorsements of...
Zambia yesterday kick-started its coronavirus vaccination program. The launch involves the first pillar of the program under the COVAX facility consisting of 228k doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine and will cover around 20% or 3.6mn of the eligible over 18 years people and will target front-line health workers and other people most at risk. Speaking...
It was a relatively quiet day in Zambia amid a quiet domestic data card. On the base metals front, Copper is bid this morning, the red metal has been buoyed by the US CPI reading which points to a better growth dynamics out of the US, at least for now. Copper rose by as much...
The big development in the African fiscal space overnight was that global ratings agency Fitch upgraded Zambia’s long-term local currency cred-it issuer default rating to CCC from CC and has affirmed Zambia’s long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating at RD. Fitch said in the state-ment accompanying the rating decision that the upgrade of the long-term local...