Zambia’s economy is largely driven by the […]

Zambia’s economy is largely driven by the mining sector, with copper being the country’s major export; however, despite the sector dominating forex inflows into the country, in terms of tax collection, mineral royalty is ranked fourth.

According to the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) Q1 report, Pay As You Earn (PAYE) was the largest contributor to net revenue in Q1 of 2026, posting a growth of K1.7 billion, reflecting 24% from collections in 2025, and contributing K8.7 billion. The mineral royalty tax was ranked fourth with a net contribution of K4.8 billion, which is an increase of 24.9% compared to K3.9 billion recorded in 2025.

With the mining sector considered to be the country’s economic backbone, doesn’t mining have to be the largest net contributor in terms of revenue? Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, Economist Salwindi Notulu, , PAYE dominating tax collection has been a trend set up for quite some time in terms of revenue generation, as it is very easy to obtain revenue from direct taxes.

However, he noted that on the mining side, the trend of frequent changes of taxation systems in the mines is affecting tax collection and leading to the mines contributing less in terms of tax. “We have been changing our taxation system frequently in the mining sector, and from the time the current government came into power, it has given the mines more freedom in finding ways not to pay tax within the legal framework, which has also contributed to lower contributions in terms of revenue collected from the mines,” he noted.

 He added that the government has provided a more favorable tax system to the mines than to the Zambia Revenue Authority. He added that the only way Zambia can benefit from the wealth from the mines is through collective effort from each citizen taking a step towards the minerals the country holds.

 “From the time we liberalized our minds, every regime that has come in has entertained foreigners in terms of production, and we have failed to increase ownership of the mines, and provided that we don’t have that ownership in the mines, the country won’t get substantial benefits from the mines,” he added.

By Justine Phiri