Zambia

Starting a Business in

Zambia

Below is a detailed summary of the bureaucratic and legal hurdles faced by entrepreneurs wishing to incorporate and register a new firm in Zambia. It examines the procedures, time and cost involved in launching a commercial or industrial firm with up to 50 employees and start-up capital of 10 times the economy's per-capita gross national income.

This information was collected as part of the Doing Business project, which measures and compares regulations relevant to the life cycle of a small- to medium-sized domestic business in 185 economies. The most recent round of data collection was completed in June 2012.

Compare Zambia to 184 other economies.

YearNew business densityNumber of new limited liability companies
2011 3.0021,624

  • Standardized Company

  • Legal Form: Private Company Limited by shares
  • Paid in Minimum Capital Requirement: None
  • City: Lusaka

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Check name for uniqueness at PACRA

The name clearance is done at Patent And Companies Registration Office (PARCO)
2 days ZMK 10,000
2 Open a bank account .


1 day no charge
3 Register the company at PACRA

The registrar is located at the PACRO. PACRO is a stand alone office with a customer service center designed in a process chain platform, where applicant goes through various steps (check name, fill out form 2,5,55, and pay fees…). at the end of the process, the applicant obtains a certificate of incorporation and a certificate of commencement of business. All fees (shown below) are payable to PACRO.

• Registration Fee: 2.5% of nominal company capital
• Sealing Fee: ZMK 10,000
• Certificate of incorporation: ZMK 30,000
• Certificate of share capital: ZMK 30,000
• Certificate of minimum capital: ZMK 30,000
• Companies Form 5, Directors and secretary consent to act: ZMK 10,000
• Companies Form 11, Declaration of compliance: ZMK 10,000

 3 days see comments
4 Register with the local Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) office, direct tax division to obtain a corporate tax number

The corporate tax number can be obtained from Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA).
1 day no charge
5 File VAT registration form with ZRA to obtain a VAT tax number

To obtain a VAT tax number at the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA), promoters must file the certificate of incorporation. Firms that earn less than 200 million ZMK can register for VAT on a voluntary basis.
10 days no charge
6 Register with National Pension Scheme Authority for Social Security


1 day no charge
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