Zambia best investment destination-World Bank

Sat, 10 Dec 2016 11:55:34 +0000

ZAMBIA still remains an attractive mining investment destination due to favourable geology as well as high security and a relatively favorable economic climate, the World Bank has noted.

The international organisation applauded Zambia stating that it was still an attractive investment destination in the mining sector due to its favourable geology, long history of mining, political stability, high levels of security and a relatively favourable economic environment.

The World Bank Group in its December, 2016 Zambia Economic Brief dubbed ‘‘Raising Revenue for Economic Recovery’’ stated that the  Mining Investment and Governance Review (MInGov) presented an objective assessment of the mining sector of several countries and Zambia was surveyed in 2016 and it was concluded that the country remained an appealing place for investment.

‘‘Zambia was surveyed in 2016 and it was concluded that the country remained an appealing place for investment due to favourable geology, long history of mining, political stability, low risk of expropriation, high levels of security and aa relatively favourable economic environment,’’ the report reads.

The report noted that some of the positive findings were overshadowed by concerns of a lack of transparency and accountability regarding revenue management, lack of consistency surrounding fiscal policy, however, the report said that tax policies and instruments, accountability, inclusiveness and institutional capacity as well as institutional capacity effectiveness all scored ‘high’.  The findings stated that tax policies and instruments which were the rules for auditing, base erosion and profit shifting were all deemed to be generally strong and explained that the tax code was clear and readily available.

The World Bank observed that despite the strengths identified in the MInGov survey, the mining tax regime had continued to evolve and that efforts by the Government to ensure that there was an adequate minimal revenue stream in all production periods had so far borne limited results which have instead created a relatively turbulent mining taxation and market environment.