Youths demand higher taxes for foreign firms

By Kenneth Nyangani | Oct 23, 2025 | 2 Min read

Stanley Sakupwanya

A LATEST report reveals that young people are demanding increased taxes for foreign-owned mining companies and businesses with the proceeds channelled to health, environmental and youth empowerment activities.

This came out of a Youth Inclusive Budget Conference (YIBC) held at the new Parliament building in Mt Hampden, recently.

The event brought together 510 delegates from all 10 provinces of the country, along with government officials and development partners.

Running under the theme Empowering the Young Drivers of Economic Growth and Transformation for Sustainable Development to Deliver Vision 2030, the conference aimed at ensuring the prioritisation of youth projects in the 2026 national budget.

Over two days, delegates presented sectoral recommendations based on their lived experiences, calling for a more responsive resource allocation, stronger accountability and inclusive development planning.

A key outcome was a consolidated set of financial and policy recommendations. Youths specifically agreed on a push to "increase taxes for foreign-owned mining companies and businesses generating externalities and channel the proceeds to health, environmental and youth funds,” the report read.

Additionally, the report urged the government to stipulate that 5% of all devolution funds be earmarked for youth projects, including the establishment of drug rehabilitation centres and a performance-based grant system.

The project was supported by the Zimbabwe Institute and the Zimbabwe Youth Council, with funding from the embassies of Switzerland and Ireland, the Norwegian Foreign Affairs ministry, the Palme Centre and UNFPA.

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Stanley Sakupwanya, who leads the Parliamentary Youth Caucus, expressed satisfaction with the conference’s outcomes, highlighting the importance of the second edition of the YIBC in shaping national budget discussions.