Thursday, March 28, 2024

PACRA to deregister over 20, 000 companies

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THE Patents and Companies Registration Agency (PACRA) is targeting to deregister 22, 000 defunct companies for non compliance with the requirements of filing annual returns.

PACRA Registrar and chief executive officer Anthony Bwembya said the Agency would be deregistering about 22, 000 defunct companies for non compliance with the requirements of filing annual returns.

He was speaking to journalists after officiating at the National roving seminar on making better use of intellectual property for business competitiveness and development in Africa organised by the
Government in cooperation with the African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation (ARIPO).

Mr Bwembya said the companies had not been complying with the requirement of filling annual returns and had not responded to the notices.

He said the agency would be issuing the notice of deregistration to the 22, 000 defunct companies within a month saying that failure for the companies to respond to the notice within 30 days would mean deregistration.

“My team will be issuing the notice of intention to deregister defunct companies within one month to find out whether they still want to remain in our data base, so if they do not respond to the notices within 30 days then it means that we will remove them from the register.

These are companies that have not been complying with the requirement of filling annual returns and have not responded to the notices,” Mr Bwembya said.

He said there was a cost associated to the maintenance of the business records saying that the cost of finding space on the data base is costly.

Meanwhile the Agency has registered about 4, 000 businesses in the first quarter of the year across the country.

The sectors that registered include small and medium enterprises in the construction sector, transport, mining, farming and engineering.

The number of registered businesses is expected to increase by December this year.

Speaking earlier Mr Bwembya said the protection of traditional knowledge would soon be made law in Zambia to ensure that people benefit from their creation.

He said the focus of the seminar is on the protection of traditional knowledge saying that this would soon become law in the country.

Mr Bwembya said this would enable Zambia to protect traditional knowledge interms of traditional medicine, traditional practices, cultural dances and expression of folk laws.

“Intellectual property refers to the creation of mind, things that come from intellectuals, so intellectual property systems is a system by which we protect these creations so that the inventors can benefit from it.

So this seminar is focused on protection of traditional knowledge in terms of traditional medicine, traditional practices, cultural dances and folk law, this is a new system which will soon be made law in Zambia,” he said.

ARIPO director general Fernando dos Santos urged Zambia to join the Banjul protocol for protection of marks saying that this would open an opportunity for users worldwide to seek protection of their trademarks in Zambia.

He said the Banjul protocol would also be an opportunity for Zambian innovators and entrepreneurs to protect their brands in the ARIPO Member states using the regional system.

The seminar which officially opened yesterday is expected to end on Wednesday, May 13 2015.

9 COMMENTS

  1. Its quite remarkable that 20,000 companies – which I assume 90% + are Zambian owned- Are somehow established and are obviously looking for business. Now in a country where the most lucrative businesses are in foreign hands who have poor employment policies in terms of hiring locals. Somehow if those 20,000 companies were given even a 45% stake in the lucrative businesses alluded to, it can be assumed that every one of those 20,000 will employ and employ at least 6 family members. When translated into the larger scale we are easily talking of 120,000 jobs created. Now if of those 6 employed per firm are running households of say 6 for the nucleus, that immediately translates into 720,000 citizens with an improved existence.

  2. If that firm has a family that goes beyond the nucleus ( the 6 referenced to), the likelihood is that the extended family will average not less than 30. Now if a significant chunk of the country’s wealth is given to the 20,000 self starter initiative companies, many would be able to support their larger extended families. If you do the maths that would mean 6 million in direct benefit. And since my figure of 30 per extended family is conservative 6 million can easily convert to 8 million. If 8 million people can have a reliable source of income then that will seriously dent the defeat-able poverty that is almost fatal problem in this land.

  3. That said, PACRA have their mandate to regulate the way the 20,000 companies operate vis-a-vis the act PACRA are premised on. But as in what legislation is established on, the spirit of the whole process matters. PACRA made registration of initiatives/Ideas easy in their revised laws and the fact that as many as 20,000 citizens responded in the affirmative means that, they not only believed in the PACRA simplified process but had initiatives/ideas that could be fruitful. And why fruitful because the country has immense resources -cum-opportunities to offer its citizens means to be prosperous or merely better off.

  4. Hence while de-registration may be legally justifiable, maybe context has to be considered. What good will it be to de-register 20,000 thousand firms because the have infringed an aspect of PACRA’s law. Its almost certain that the most common of infringements is non payment of required returns; but this can be juxtaposed with the fact that most Zambian firms are still waiting to have business with the productive sector of the economy. Couple this with the fact the foreign owned entities can easily walk in from KKIA and have million dollar business that Zambians can have, complicates further issues of complying with PACRA requirements. Hence, finally in my view, PACRA should not rush to de-register Companies for lack of payment of returns.

  5. And as Jurisprudence in the legal fraternity is virtually a cornerstone in passing court judgements, PACRA as a quasi-financial institution can borrow practices from financial institutions on how they deal with owed amounts. Monthly installments, among other incentives can be employed before what should be frankly the last resort -de-registration- is considered. That said its very possible that PACRA has these options in place. Then the issue arises on how well the make their presence visible. An extensive publicity drive to inform the public on their business friendly service might be required to enhance compliance to the requirements of their statutes.

  6. The country is not poor. It has any resource you want to talk of, minerals , land, water, skilled labour. Yet somehow the term underdeveloped has been contrived to describe its state of being; that’s not correct in the name of God.

  7. To borrow ecclesiastical language, The Conclusion when all has been said, is this country can be developed. It is not a basket case and definitely not doomed. A little bit of unity and from that brief round table considerations can see the 14 million citizens on a path to prosperity.

  8. The numbers are staggering!! It I have 30 students in my class and 23 cannot understand what am talking about; I probably have to look at myself. Mr Bwembya, is there an alternative way of filing returns other than the one you use? Just checking!!

  9. What they failed to mention is in the past the annual fee was k30 now its over k125 so most small scale businesses don’t bother to renew and continue to trade.

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