ZDA acts to curb biz hassles
Published On April 1, 2015 » 6245 Views» By Davies M.M Chanda » Business, Stories
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By JUDITH NAMUTOWE –
THE Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) has embarked on an Information Communication and Technology (ICT) infrastructure integration programme to reduce business registration hurdles.
The programme is aimed at reducing business registration and other processes to about two hours at the one-stop shop.
The One Stop Shop Integrated System (OSSIS) is an information exchange ICT programme that will enable one-stop shop stakeholder agencies share client registration information.
The ICT programme would initially see three frontline stakeholders namely the National Pension Scheme Authority (NAPSA), the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) and the Patents and Companies Registration Agency (PACRA) backend systems, interface through the OSSIS platform.
The ZDA said in a statement that the facility, which was expected to be operational in the fourth quarter of this year on a trial basis, would drastically reduce the documents investors would have to carry from one desk to another and speed up the registration process.
“With the current system, clients had to carry their certifications from one desk to another. However, with the integrated system, everything will be done online and the client will receive their certificate authorised by all the relevant Agencies within a period of two hours,” the ZDA said.
The agency said the integration programme would further reduce irregularities in information held by various stakeholder agencies and that on a client because the systems would be harmonised and information accessed from either end.
The one-stop shop also housed the Information Resource Centre (IRC), which provided trade and investment facilitation information to the business community through online trade information reference system, trade and information journals, and directories.
The one-stop shop facility was currently operating in Lusaka and Livingstone, while plans were underway to open the Kitwe and Chipata centres before the end of this year.

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