Kudzai Madenga
The Government has abolished several fees and levies affecting businesses, farmers and service providers as part of measures aimed at reducing the cost of doing business.
The changes were introduced through Statutory Instrument 41 of 2026, which removes a range of charges previously paid by businesses in the retail, agriculture, utilities, energy and hospitality sectors.
“The Government has abolished several fees to reduce the cost of doing business,” said Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Permanent Secretary Nick Mangwana.
Under the new regulations, a number of business licensing fees for retail shops have been scrapped. These include bakery and food factory licensing, butchery licensing, fishmonger licensing, takeaway licensing, restaurant licensing, bottle store licensing and wholesale licensing.
In the agriculture and livestock sector, the Government removed the annual cattle levy, livestock movement clearance levy, dairy permits and carcass inspection fees.
The reforms also affect utilities and infrastructure-related charges, with borehole and water abstraction costs as well as the timber transportation levy being abolished.
The fuel and energy sector will also benefit from the removal of several fees, including the fuel storage licence for retail shops, fuel depot nozzle fee and service station dispensing nozzle fee.
Other charges eliminated under SI 41 of 2026 include place of assembly fees for hotels, the generator levy and service rental fees for laid-down infrastructure.
The removal of the fees is expected to reduce expenses associated with licensing, compliance and other operational requirements for affected businesses.
