Chamber welcomes amendments to mines Act

The Zambia Chamber of Mines has welcomed amendments to the 2015 Mines and Minerals Development Act passed by parliament last Friday.

Chamber President Nathan Chishimba says given the pivotal importance of the mining industry in promoting long term diversified economic growth, the mining industry supports the forward thinking policy shift by Government, which will no doubt bear fruit in time to come.

Nathan Chishimba

Mr Chishimba says Government’s decision marks a significant shift in outlook towards the sector, and it can only be of benefit to the industry and the economy in the longer term.

He however, states that given the intense competition the country faces from other mining jurisdictions in the world, more needs to be done to ensure long-term competitiveness and renewed investment in the mining sector, which is key to securing growth.

Mr Chishimba notes that if Zambia is to attract this needed investment, its mining taxation levels, particularly Mineral Royalty Tax, must at the very least lie within global norms.

But civil society organisations have expressed concern on the proposed tax bands for the new sliding mineral royalty tax regime.

The Centre for Trade Policy and Development and Publish What You Pay Zambia in a joint statement state that although cognizant that the move towards sliding mineral royalty tax is progressive and will ensure stability in the mining sector, they are displeased at the current proposed 3% and 6% bands as the floor and ceiling tax rates pegged to the value of the mineral on the London Metal Stock exchange.

The two organisations argue that the new regime will surely compromise mineral revenue collection below what was effected in the 2015 Mines and Minerals Act.

They have since demanded that government discloses to the public the tax revenue that will be foregone with the implementation of the new tax regime.