Nets now

Every year, malaria is estimated to cost Africa's economies US$12bn and the disease is rampant in Zambia.

One in four outpatient cases there occurs as a result of malaria, which takes a huge toll on the government’s health budget.
 
And this is money the government in Zambia can ill afford.
 
The government there manages to collect just 14%¹ of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in tax, which is shockingly low. This has a massive impact on the amount they can spend on healthcare – just 4.8% of their GDP.²  

Zambia's lost riches

Like many other African countries, Zambia is being exploited because they have a very valuable natural resource – copper.
 
Indeed, Zambia's copper industry is big business, but despite some improvements in the last decade, the government is not raising all it could from its mineral wealth. In fact, the government still has an incredibly small share in its own natural resource. This is of course reflective of the huge power wielded by multinational mining companies in their negotiations with developing countries.
 
In 2008, the Zambian government tried to address this problem by introducing new windfall taxes, which they hoped would increase income from tax and royalties in the copper industry. Unfortunately, a global fall in copper prices gave companies the ammunition they needed to insist the government drop their plan.
 
We also estimate that Zambia is losing a significant amount of capital – and as a result tax revenue – due to the manipulation of export and import prices in its trade with the US and the EU. On average between 2005-7, we estimate that Zambia lost around US$1.9m per year.
 
Christian Aid's US$500,000 malaria project in Zambia aims to cut malaria by 40% in four international border districts within 18 months. Imagine how much four times that amount could do every year. It could well help to eliminate malaria in Zambia.

Trace the Tax

And this is just the tip of the iceberg. We believe that Zambia may be missing out on many more millions of dollars a year through other kinds of tax evasion. This would be easier to prove with some straightforward changes.
 
We want to see a new international accounting standard introduced which would oblige companies to report their profits in each country they operate. And we want to see an end to tax haven secrecy. With these two changes, companies would have to be much more transparent about their dealings, providing governments like Zambia's with the information they need to help ensure they receive all the tax they are due.
 
The G20 countries meet this November in France and they will be discussing this issue. They have the power to take decisive action to end tax haven secrecy. So please support our campaign to ensure that this problem is high on the G20’s agenda and that our leaders take appropriate action.

Laura Trevelyan,
Senior Campaigns Officer, Christian Aid

¹ www.norad.no/en/_attachment/340669/binary/181579?download=true² www.who.int/countries/zmb/en/