MINING SECTOR TAX CONTRIBUTIONS HIT RECORD K43 BILLION, SAYS ZEITI
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FEBRUARY 2, 2024
MINING SECTOR TAX CONTRIBUTIONS HIT RECORD K43 BILLION, SAYS ZEITI
LUSAKA, ZAMBIA – Tax payments from the mining sector rose by 11 percent to K43.3 billion in 2022, according to the latest independently audited report from the Zambia Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (ZEITI).
The report showed that total revenues received by government from the mining sector rose to more than K43.3 billion in 2022, a significant increase on the K39 billion received in 2021.With top contributing mines being Kansanshi Mining with contributions of K15 billion, FQM Trident making contributions of K8.6 billion and Lumwana Mine making contributions of K4 billion.
The overall increase in year-on-year revenue is despite lower overall copper production for the year, as well as lower copper prices.
According to Ian Mwiinga, Head of the ZEITI Secretariat, 2022 was another record-breaking year, both for mining revenue collections and for ZEITI itself.
“The reconciliation differences – the discrepancies between what is paid by mining companies and reported as received by government agencies – are now at an all-time low. This is great news for the good governance of our mineral resources sector, and proves the worth of the ZEITI initiative in continuously improving the standard of reporting within mining companies and government agencies, so that the general public can have an accurate picture of the annual mineral revenues received by the State,” he said.
“The great utility of ZEITI’s annual reports is that they are an independently verified set of facts that gives the public a transparent view of mining taxation –what has been paid on the one side, and received on the other – and provides reassurance that the nation is recouping a very substantial return from the mining of its national resources. The next step is ensuring transparency and accountability for how the revenues collected from the mining industry are spent.”
Mr Mwiinga was speaking at the launch of the 2022 annual report on tax payments this week in Solwezi attended by representatives from government, the private sector and civil society , who gathered to understand the level of the contributions made by the mining sector.
ZEITI is the Zambian chapter of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), the global standard for the good governance of oil, gas and mineral resources. It is an independent body, unconnected to either government or industry, that publishes an annual report, publicly available through its website documenting all payments made by mining companies, and revenues received by the government.
Importantly, the EITI conducts a reconciliation between the amounts paid by companies and the amounts received by government entities, so that any discrepancy can be revealed. Zambia joined the EITI in 2009, and annual reconciliation reports have been available to the public from 2008.
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About ZEITI
Zambia has a long history of mining. Mining is the mainstay of the economy of Zambia. That is why the country has joined the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).
The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) is a coalition of donors, mining companies, resource-rich countries, Civil Society Organizations and investors. The main objective of the EITI is to disclose what gas, oil and mining companies pay to Government and what Government receives from these extractive companies as revenue. The purpose of disclosing this information is to promote transparency and accountability in the use of our natural resources. Zambia joined the EITI in order to maximize the benefits from the extractives industries sector. The increased benefits will in turn contribute to economic growth and development in the country.
To date several countries from Africa, Latin-America, Europe, USA, Asia, the Middle East and the Caribbeans have joined the initiative.
The EITI was formally launched in Zambia July 2008 at a workshop organized by the government. The objective of the workshop was to make stakeholders (namely: government, mining companies, and civil society) to reach consensus on the introduction of EITI in Zambia. This included the establishment of the Zambia EITI Council (ZEC), drafting of the costed work plan for Zambia, and the appointment of a senior government official to lead the Zambia EITI Council. Since then the Zambia EITI Council and the Zambia EITI Secretariat have been established.
https://zambiaeiti.org/
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Gillian Langmead at Langmead & Baker Ltd;
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