The Centre for Trade Policy and Development (CTPD) has called on Government and mining companies to enhance transparency in the sector by increasing beneficial ownership disclosure.
CTPD Legal Researcher Luyando Muloshi says despite the sector being essential to Zambia’s economy, it has long been plagued by a lack of transparency, with ownership structures often shrouded in secrecy.
Ms. Muloshi states that in many instances, it has been difficult to ascertain with accuracy individuals who own, control or benefit from mining companies and she says this lack of transparency can lead to corruption, tax evasion, money laundering and misappropriation of resources.
She notes that while Zambia through the Companies Act of 2017 introduced provisions requiring companies to disclose their beneficial owners, CTPD believes that more legislative reforms need to be made to ensure that the mining sector operates in a transparent and accountable manner.
CTPD has further urged government to make beneficial ownership disclosure mandatory for all companies operating in the mining sector and to impose harsh penalties for failure to do so while mining companies have been urged to voluntarily disclose their beneficial ownership information and work with civil society organisations to promote transparency in the sector.
