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Showing all content in Zambia
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Publication - Policy Brief
Harnessing the power of electronic fiscal devices to increase VAT revenue in Zambia
Compliance by formal firms with consumption taxes such as Value Added Tax (VAT) remains low in Zambia. Substantial VAT evasion happens at the point of retail sales, translating into lower VAT remittances to the treasury. The Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) has implemented various policy tools targeted at this type of tax evasion. One key policy intervention was the...
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Blog post
Winners or losers? The COVID-19 impact on Zambian manufacturing firms
The demand- and supply-side shocks on Zambian manufacturing firms caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have had mixed effects on firms’ sales and exports. In a recent survey of firms’ experiences, government response measures have reportedly been unaligned to these needs and thus underutilised as a set of support services. As a part of an ongoing IGC project on the...
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Project
The impact of infrastructure improvement on urban life quality in Zambia
This project assesses the socioeconomic impact of improvements in road quality between 2014 and 2018 in Zambia, extending the study period of a previous IGC study titled The impact of infrastructure improvement on urban life quality and firm output, covering the implementation of Link Zambia 8000. Link Zambia 8000 is one of Zambia's largest scale infrastructure...
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Project
Characterising informal settlements in Lusaka
This project supports better planning for urban expansion and public service delivery in Zambia through satellite imagery-based analysis of informal settlements. Its outcomes will fill critical knowledge gaps on the nature of informal settlements in Lusaka. The project is part of IGC Cities that Work's broader collaboration with policymakers and development partners in...
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News Item
Using artificial intelligence to map African cities to improve services and infrastructure at low cost
Technology used to map Lusaka, Zambia is replicable in other African cities to upgrade informal settlements and achieve sustainable urban expansion. Leading organisations Ordnance Survey (OS), the International Growth Centre (IGC) and the Commonwealth Association of Architects (CAA) are responding to the challenges associated with urban growth, and the availability of...
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Project
Mapping informal settlements in Lusaka
The IGC has been working with UN-Habitat to support the Zambia Ministry of Local Government. This has demonstrated, as re-emphasised by the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for a better understanding of the city’s informal settlements. A collaboration with Ordnance Survey (OS) and the Commonwealth Association of Architects (CAA) has set out to respond to the issue of...
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Publication - Policy Brief
Complementarities in the provision of public services: Evidence from Zambia
This study seeks to understand how the construction of new health facilities affects population health, focusing on health outcomes related to obstetric care and child mortality when the first facility is established in a local area. Researchers built a new geo-referenced panel data set containing the universe of health facilities in Zambia by combining health...
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Blog post
One year on: Zambian economy during COVID-19
On 18 March 2020, Zambia reported its first COVID-19 case. One year later, like the rest of the world, the pandemic has had unprecedented effects on many aspects of life. The economic effects have been particularly significant, most aptly demonstrated at the macro level by Zambia becoming the world’s first COVID-19-era sovereign debt default. The COVID-19 policy...
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Project
Harnessing the power of electronic fiscal devices
Low tax compliance is a major challenge in most developing countries, including Zambia. Many governments have adopted a Value Added Tax (VAT) to increase tax revenues and VAT is now responsible for up to a quarter of total revenues in developing countries (Keen, 2016). The key benefit of VAT is that it is self-enforcing along the supply chain. Firms have a financial...
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Project
Zambian youth unemployment in industries without smokestacks
Zambia has high rates of unemployment and is overly dependent on mining for growth and foreign exchange. In 2018, the unemployment rate was 12.6 percent and the youth unemployment rate was 17.4 percent. With a growing population, this issue will only become worse without intervention and growth in labour-absorbing sectors of the economy. This study researches...