Over 170 market traders i n L u s a k a w i l l b e n e f i t from the Zambia National Marketeers Credit Association (ZANAMACA) empowerment programme, which starts this week. ZANAMACA president Mupila Kameya said in an interview that the traders from New Soweto, Katambala and Kapuma markets will benefit in the first phase of the project. M r K a m e y a s a i d e a c h beneficiary will get soft loans of between K1,000 and K2,500. “We were looking for partners to implement this project with. Some people have come on board, so our traders will start receiving their money next week (this week),” Mr Kameya said.
He said the project will prioritise women. Mr Kameya said traders in all the 10 provinces will benefit from the project. The association will use the programme to explain to the traders the importance of paying tax. Mr Kameya said Government wants to formalise the informal sector by empowering people to enable them to grow their businesses and pay taxes. Last year, Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) introduced tax in the informal sector to increase revenue collection for the country.
The authority appointed ZANAMACA as a base tax collecting agent. “Paying tax is the responsibility of all law-abiding citizens. But people in the informal sector need to understand why they are paying tax,” Mr Kameya said. He said people in the informal sector need to embrace various programmes being implemented by Government to foster national development.