THE Zimbabwe government has gazetted sweeping overhauls of local authority fees, converting a raft of business cost-reduction announcements made late last year into enforceable law.
Statutory Instrument 41 of 2026, issued last week, abolishes scores of fees, caps dozens more, and introduces 50 percent reductions across key licensing categories.
While the government had signalled these changes in October and November 2025, businesses had been left waiting for the legal instrument to give the reforms teeth.
The relief spans multiple sectors. For the retail industry, where a supermarket operator could previously face up to 25 separate council permits, the new rules abolish every food and beverage sub-licence that applies to operations within a retail shop.
Bakeries, butcheries, fishmongers, restaurants, takeaways, bottle stores, wholesale operations, and food factories embedded within a retail store all lose their standalone licence obligations under the SI.
Separate standalone operations retain licences but are now capped at US$500 per year. The municipal or shop business licence itself is capped at US$500 annually, while a financial services registration costs a flat US$20.
Dairy farmers, who a National Competitiveness Commission report last year found needed at least 26 permits to operate, receive direct relief. The annual dairy permit charged by Rural District Councils has been abolished outright.
Livestock movement clearance charges and annual cattle levies have been dropped as well, removing fees that rural farmers had long complained were deterrents to formal operations.
The tourism sector, one of Finance Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube’s 12 targeted reform areas alongside livestock, manufacturing, transport, retail and energy, sees across-the-board fee reductions.
Hotel operator licences are cut by 50 percent and capped at US$1,725, lodge licences at US$500, motels and inns and hostels at US$227,50, and restaurant and guest house licences at US$152,50. The place-of-assembly fee for hotels is abolished entirely, as is the fuel storage licence under fire regulations.
Urban motorists and transport operators are not left out. City parking is now capped at 50 US cents per hour. Vehicle clamping fees are set at US$20 per incident and tow-away charges are halved for all local authorities. Intra-city route authority fees are pegged at US$20 annually, with terminus vouchers at US$50 per quarter.
The SI follows earlier reform instruments, including Statutory Instrument 10 of 2026, which overhauled vehicle registration fees in January, signalling a sustained legislative push rather than a once-off exercise.