ZCCM-IH TO MAKE DIFFICULT DECISIONS - BOARD

ZCCM-IH will need to make courageous and difficult decisions in ensuring the success of the company and its investee portfolio, according to the company Board Chairperson, Dolika Banda.

Ms Banda stated that the current ZCCM-IH strategy seeks to achieve the company vision in two years which was informed by ambition that was focused, innovative, agile, and adaptable to the changing environment.

ZCCM-IH, she emphasised in her New Year message to shareholders, would continue to adapt to industry dynamics.

“Our stance will entail a commitment to leading a company that upholds the highest institutional standards regarding environmental, social and governance principles including transparency and accountability.

“We as the Board, will along the way need to make courageous and difficult decisions in ensuring the success of ZCCM-IH and its investee portfolio. I believe that this is a common goal that we share with all our staff, shareholders, and stakeholders,” Ms Banda said.

She said top of ZCCM-IH’s investment agenda of creating and maximising economic transformation across the mining value chain, commodity diversification in the core sectors; and generating predictable and consistent revenue streams in a sustainable manner would remain.

This investment agenda,

Ms Banda said, would actively aim to deliver economic and social returns to its host communities and value to its shareholders.

She acknowledged that the advent of the Covid-19 further exacerbated business disruptions bringing about dislocations that demanded a shift in the way business was conducted.

“The combination of a conducive and enabling business environment set by the Government, an opposite ZCCM-IH six-year strategic plan to 2026, and the augmentation of the ZCCM-IH board, leaves me feeling optimistic about the heights to which we can take this internationally owned Company.

“Along with all the new hope and promise that a new year brings, I hope it also brings us a lot more opportunities to work together to reposition ZCCM-IH as a best-in-class global player in the mining industry,” Ms Banda said.

SUSTAINED demand for the hard currency on the local market has seen the Kwacha to lose further ground against the United States dollar, as copper fell for a second day while the Federal Reserve signaled interest-rates hikes.

The Kwacha has continued to weaken further against the United States dollar in its trading sessions

The first week of trading in the New Year has been characterised by minimal supply from corporates adding some slight pressure to the Kwacha which is currently trading around K16.790 per dollar.

Interim trends, according to the financial players, suggest that the rate may continue on this trend owing to tight supply of dollars.

“On Wednesday, the Kwacha tracked other currencies which traded on the back foot of a broadly bullish U.S. Dollar. Sustained demand for the hard currency on the local market saw the currency pair lose further ground against the greenback,” according to the Zambia Industrial Commercial Bank (ZICB).

Meanwhile, Access Bank Zambia indicated that copper fell as much as 0.6 percent to US$9,637 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange before trading at US$9,648.50 in Shanghai

It stated that copper fell for a second day as the Federal Reserve signaled interest-rate hikes may be more aggressive than expected, hitting broad market sentiment and clouding the demand outlook modities.

Fed moves affect emerging markets as United States interest rate hikes tend to drain capital away from the higher-yielding but riskier markets, weighing on their currencies.

Local investor focus was on a purchasing managers' survey due on Wednesday and reserves figures expected on Friday.A “very tight" job market and unabated inflation might require the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates sooner than expected and begin reducing its overall asset holdings.

In a document released on Wednesday that markets took as decidedly hawkish, the minutes from the December 14-15 policy meeting showed Fed officials uniformly concerned about the pace of price increases that promised to persist, alongside global supply bottlenecks "well into" 2022. for com