In 2018, there were a total of 27,589 new companies registered in Zambia, a 3.2% increase from 2017, and 11% from 2016, a sign that the Zambian citizen is becoming more enterprising in recent years, as reported by the PatentACRA
There are twelves sectors to which a business can be registered in Zambia, these being Wholesale and Retail Trade; Repair of Motor Vehicles and Motorcycles, Financial And Insurance Activities, Construction, Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing, Education, Manufacturing, Other Service Activities, Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities, Accommodation and Food Service Activities, Transportation and Storage, Administrative and Support Service Activities, and Other Sectors.
Of the registrations in 2017, the Wholesale and Retail Trade; Repair of Motor Vehicles and Motorcycles sector accounts for 41% of the new companies, consistent as in previous years.
By province, Lusaka Province accounts for 56% of the companies registered in 2018, consistently leading in previous years.
In his report, Anthony Mbwambya, the CEO of PACRA, highlighted several achievements that included enforcements, saying “I am pleased to report that the Agency recorded an increase of 3% in business registrations and 17% annual returns filings.
The increase demonstrates that more businesses were formalised with the Agency. Furthermore, the increase in the annual return filings demonstrates efforts made towards improving compliance with the statutory requirements for filing annual returns. These efforts have begun to yield results.
There was an increase of 17% in registration of Financing Statements on the Movable Property Registration System (MPRS). Commercial Banks, in particular, recorded a substantial increase in the usage of the system.
The increase is attributable to the vigorous awareness programme the Agency embarked on from the beginning of 2018.
In an effort to increase compliance and clean up the database, 25,000 non-compliant companies were identified and 24,750 subsequently de-registered.
The Agency will from time to time review the database and strike off from the register companies that do not comply with various requirements, including that of filing annual returns. This exercise is necessary in order to maintain data integrity.”
Source: Pacra
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