144 insolvency practitioners accredited by PACRA in 2025

According to the Patents and Companies Registration […]

According to the Patents and Companies Registration Agency (PACRA) 2025 Annual Report, the Agency accredited 144 Insolvency Practitioners under the Corporate Insolvency Act No. 9 of 2017.

 Meanwhile, speaking in an interview with Zambian Business Times (ZBT), Economic Expert Joseph Mtonga said accredited insolvency practitioners are critical to protecting economic value when companies experience financial distress. “Insolvency practitioners are essentially the first responders of the commercial sector,” said Mtonga.

 He said insolvency should not automatically mean shutting down a struggling company, arguing that skilled practitioners can preserve viable businesses, protect jobs, and maintain relationships between suppliers, lenders, and employees.

“When you retain and support these professionals, you are protecting the economic ecosystem because you save jobs, preserve supply chain relationships, and ensure creditors recover maximum value,” said Mtonga.

 Meanwhile, he said the accreditation of 144 practitioners sends a positive signal to investors and financial institutions because it demonstrates that Zambia has a predictable and regulated mechanism for dealing with corporate distress.

“That figure of 144 accredited practitioners sends a strong signal of institutional maturity to both local and foreign investors, and that accreditation helps move insolvency management away from informal arrangements towards a rule-based system under the Corporate Insolvency Act,” said Mtonga.

The expert added that an effective insolvency regime can strengthen access to finance by reducing the risks faced by banks when lending to businesses, as efficient restructuring or liquidation can improve the recovery of distressed loans.

“There is a direct correlation between effective insolvency resolution and the cost of capital, and weak insolvency systems can leave non-performing loans trapped on bank balance sheets and restrict credit to healthy businesses,” he said.

Mtonga told ZBT that accredited practitioners also become particularly important during periods of economic stress because they facilitate the restructuring of viable companies while ensuring that businesses that cannot be rescued exit the market in an orderly manner.

By Philip Sinkala