The launch of a new integrated ICT system to reduce red tape for businesses has been announced in Zambia
The Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) said the new system will help to streamline processes such as business registration and others, reducing waiting times to a maximum of around two hours.
The One Stop Shop Integrated System (OSSIS) is an information exchange ICT programme that will enable stakeholder agencies to share registration information.
The programme will initially see three frontline stakeholders – the National Pension Scheme Authority (NAPSA), Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) and the Patents and Companies Registration Agency (PACRA) – backend systems (ePACRA, myNAPSA and ZRA’s TaxOnline) interface through the OSSIS Platform.
“The facility, which is expected to be operational by Q4 2015 on a trial basis, will drastically reduce the documents investors will have to carry from one desk to another and speed up the registration process,” ZDA said in a recent statement.
As well as eliminating the need for much of the physical paperwork, the switch to an integrated online system will also reduce inaccuracies in the information held by the various stakeholder agencies, the organisation said.
The One Stop Shop facility is currently operating in Lusaka and Livingstone, but plans are underway to open new centres in Kitwe and Chipata before the end of 2015.
