By Amb Emmanuel Mwamba
Minister of Finance and National Planning, Situmbeko Musokotwane has scrapped the export tax on copper concentrates.
This is according to Statutory Instrument No. 47 of 2025 scrapping export taxes on raw material exports.
The following companies will NOT pay export taxes for copper concentrates;
- Mopani Copper Mines Plc
- Lumwana Mining Company
- Nkana Mining and Mineral Processing
- First Quantum Mine
- Lubambe Copper Mine Limited
- Konkola Concentrates
- Nchanga Concentrates
The primary purpose of export taxes on concentrates is to retain local jobs, promoting domestic processing.
Its also to allow for higher tax benefits as processing concentrates reveals other mierals such as gemstones and gold.
Anothet primary driver for export taxes on concentrates is to encourage in-country processing and refining of raw materials, rather than simply exporting them in their less-processed form.
The export taxes becomes a source of a cash strapped government and boosts domestic revenue revenue, especially for Zambia with significant natural resource exports.
In 2008, Musokotwaneas new Minister of Finance scrapped the Windfall Tax from the mining, a tax introduced by his predecessors,Ngandu Magande. The tax had earned Zambia $500million in 2008 alone.
In 2021, after a hiatus of ten years, Musokotwane scrapped the Non-deductible Minieral Royalty Tax, that earned the country $1billion per year since 2019 when it was introduced.
Ba Mwamba, gemstones in copper concentrate? Yes, gold, silver, platinum and palladium may be found in copper concentrates but definitely NOT gemstones!
But then, PF operates in a different universe where all things real are unreal and only fairy tales are true.
However, Mr. Mwamba’s revelations, if true, are indeed worrisome, especially that the government increased the turnover tax for SMEs from 4% to 5% this year but is letting multinationals get away with grand theft!
Is law not supposed to cover everyone? Why’s it that only some companies are going to enjoy this exemption? I find this strange.