Zambia’s creative industry needs tax incentives, Manic tells govt

AFTER Zambians voted in huge numbers at the August 12 general election, the 2022 national budget is now the first major assignment facing a newly-constituted National Assembly. 

Manic Creatives Limited, the growth agency, is among Zambia’s leading digital communications and marketing companies that realises that in order for the creatives industry to develop, tax incentives will be necessary to stimulate further growth and boost job creation.

Manic Founder and CEO Imanga Kayama observes that it remains important for the government to consider providing tax incentives to increase job creation opportunities, thereby, allow the creative industry to contribute more meaningfully to Zambia’s economic development.

“The thing about Zambia, which we all know, is that we have very good technocrats, the challenge is implementation. So, I don’t think we are lacking in terms of policy, even the digital, information technology space is well covered, but implementation is where it’s lacking. So, this is an appeal that more people should implement. We can only ask for the government’s support to help and support us from certain challenges that we face, like duty to bring in computers or equipment that would help us push the agenda forward. They can help us with, maybe, being lenient with some of the taxes SMEs are paying, that’s where we feel the pinch,” explains Kayama in an interview.

“In terms of policies, I think it’s okay, it’s just the business operations side of things, the compliance, where I think we could be a bit more friendly to SMEs.”

In this year’s national budget, government moved to either remove or suspend import duty on various imported products across the agricultural, mining and textile industries, but was silent on any customs and excise incentives related to the ICT sector.

Now that a new administration is in place, perhaps the much-needed change can happen.