How to Buy Shares on the Lusaka Securities Exchange (2026)

What the Lusaka Securities Exchange actually is

The Lusaka Securities Exchange (LuSE) is where shares in Zambia's listed companies change hands. Buying one share makes you a part-owner of that business. You are not lending the company money the way you do when you buy a government treasury bill — you are buying a slice of whatever the company is worth, and a claim on whatever it chooses to pay out as dividends.

The exchange runs two tiers. The Official List carries the larger, mature companies. The Quoted Tier is a second board intended for smaller, emerging and growth-phase businesses. Shares are held electronically as book entries in a Central Share Depository (CSD) — there are no paper certificates to lose — and trades settle on a T+3 rolling cycle, meaning the money and the shares change hands three business days after the trade.

That is the whole machine. What follows is what it costs, what it pays, and where it can hurt you.

The tax case is unusually strong, and most Zambians have never heard it

This is the part worth reading twice, because it is the single biggest reason a Zambian saver might choose listed shares over almost anything else.

Dividends from a LuSE-listed company, paid to an individual, are taxed at 0%. Ordinary Zambian dividends carry 15% withholding tax for residents and 20% for non-residents. A dividend declared by a company listed on the Lusaka Securities Exchange to an individual shareholder is exempt. You receive the full amount.

Zambia has no capital gains tax. If you buy a share at K10 and sell it at K25, the K15 gain is not subject to capital gains tax, because Zambia does not levy one.

Selling listed shares is exempt from Property Transfer Tax. PTT is charged at 8% on the transfer of shares issued by a Zambian company, and it is the seller who pays it. But the Property Transfer Tax Act's exemption list expressly covers shares and stocks listed on a stock exchange registered under the Securities Act — the LuSE is the example the Zambia Revenue Authority itself gives. "Listed shares" for this purpose means shares that are readily transferable or disposable on that exchange.

Set that against the alternatives. Interest on a government bond is taxed at 15%. Interest generally is taxed at 15% for residents. If you sell shares in a private, unlisted Zambian company, the seller pays 8% PTT on the realised value — on the whole value, not on your profit. Listed shares escape all three charges.

One practical note: transactions that are exempt from PTT still go through the ZRA's PTT process to generate a nil tax clearance certificate. Your broker handles this for an ordinary on-market trade. Ask them to confirm it in writing if you are moving a large parcel.

Compare the after-tax picture against a fixed deposit before you decide. Our savings calculator and the compound interest calculator will show you what a given rate does over five and ten years, and Zambia's tax guide explains how the withholding taxes fit together.

What that difference is worth, in kwacha

The rates above are the tax rules, not a prediction of returns — nobody can tell you what a share will pay. But you can see what the rules alone do to the same amount of income.

Suppose an investment pays you K5,000 in a year:

• A LuSE-listed company's dividend: withholding tax is 0%. You keep K5,000.
• An unlisted Zambian company's dividend: 15% withholding tax for a resident. You keep K4,250.
• A government bond coupon: 15% withholding tax. You keep K4,250.

Now the exit. Suppose you sell a shareholding for K100,000:

• Listed on the LuSE: exempt from Property Transfer Tax, and no capital gains tax. K0 in transfer tax.
• An unlisted Zambian company: PTT at 8% of the realised value, payable by the seller. K8,000 — charged on the K100,000 value, not on your profit, so it is due even if you sold at a loss.

That K750 a year and K8,000 on exit are not returns you have to earn. They are simply charges you do not pay. Against that, set the brokerage costs in the next section and the fact that a listed share can fall in value while a treasury bill matures at a known amount.

What you need to open an account

You cannot walk onto the exchange yourself. You buy through a stockbroker — a firm licensed by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Zambia under the Securities Act No. 41 of 2016 and admitted to trade on the LuSE.

Step one: check the licence before anything else. The SEC publishes a "Find A Licensee" tool and separate registers for dealers, dealer's representatives, investment advisers and adviser's representatives. Find the firm's name there yourself. Do not accept a screenshot, a PDF certificate or a WhatsApp forward as proof. A dealer's licence and membership of the exchange are two different things, so also ask the firm directly whether it is a LuSE trading member — several SEC-licensed dealers are asset managers or banks that do not trade on the floor.

Step two: gather your documents. Expect to produce a National Registration Card or passport, proof of physical address, passport photographs and your TPIN. You will also need a bank account in your own name for settlement — if you do not have one yet, start with how to open a bank account in Zambia.

Step three: open the trading account and the CSD account. The broker opens a CSD position for you so your shares can be recorded electronically. Ask one specific question here, and get the answer in writing: are my shares registered in my own name in the CSD, or held in the broker's nominee account? The answer determines what happens to your holding if the broker itself runs into trouble, and it is the sort of thing nobody explains unless you ask.

Brokers set their own minimum opening deposit. None that we could verify publish it, so treat any figure you see quoted online as unreliable and ask the firm.

Placing an order, and what it really costs

You instruct your broker which share and how many, and at what price limit. Give the instruction clearly and, ideally, in writing — an email creates a record that a phone call does not. Trading runs Monday to Friday during a window that opens mid-morning and closes in the early afternoon. Published times differ between sources, so confirm the current session hours with your broker before placing a same-day order.

On costs, we will not print a number. Brokerage commission, the exchange and regulator levies and any CSD charge are not published by a source we can treat as authoritative, and a wrong number here would cost you real money. Instead, do this before you fund the account:

Ask, in writing: "For a purchase of K10,000 of this share, what is the total amount that will leave my account, broken down into commission, levies and any other charge? And what will the same breakdown be when I sell?"

A broker who will not answer that in writing is telling you something. Note that the round trip matters more than the entry cost — on a small parcel, buy and sell charges together can eat a meaningful share of a modest gain.

The risk nobody puts on the brochure: you may not be able to sell

The LuSE is a small market. Some counters trade rarely, and for those, the price you see quoted may be the price of a trade that happened days or weeks ago. If you need your money on a particular Tuesday, there is no guarantee there is a buyer at a price you like.

This is a different kind of risk from "the share price might fall". It is liquidity risk, and it is the reason listed shares are wrong for money you will need soon. Emergency savings belong somewhere you can reach them — see our comparison of Zambian savings accounts — and money you need within a year or two is better matched to a treasury bill with a maturity date you choose.

Your money is not guaranteed here

Zambia's Deposit Insurance Scheme protects K250,000 per depositor, per institution if a bank or other supervised deposit-taking institution fails. That protection covers deposits. It does not cover shares.

If a listed company's value falls, or the company fails, nobody reimburses you. There is no equivalent guarantee fund for share investments. This is not a defect — it is exactly what you are being paid to accept — but it must change how much of your money you commit. Our guide to what is and is not protected in Zambia sets out where the line falls.

The same logic applies to anything that markets itself as an investment. The SEC publishes a Warnings and Alerts page listing purported investment schemes, Ponzi schemes and social-media recruitment frauds it has moved against. Read it before you send money to anyone. The pattern is consistent: guaranteed high returns, pressure to recruit other people, and no licence on the SEC register. Unlicensed schemes and unregulated offshore platforms — the same problem we describe for forex brokers serving Zambia and for crypto — leave you with no domestic recourse at all.

A realistic first year

1. Clear expensive debt first. No listed share reliably beats the cost of a payroll loan or a kaloba. Start with how to borrow money safely and, if you are already carrying debt, our debt payoff planner.
2. Build an emergency fund you can actually reach. Three months of expenses, in a bank account, before a single share.
3. Open the broker and CSD accounts and get the full cost breakdown in writing.
4. Start small and buy more than one company. A single counter in a small market is a concentrated bet, however good the story sounds.
5. Read what the companies publish. Listed companies must disclose their results. Read the annual report before you buy, not after the price moves.
6. Give it years, not months. Between the 0% dividend tax, no capital gains tax and the PTT exemption, the tax system rewards holding listed shares. The costs and the thin market punish trading in and out.

Set that alongside the rest of a plan in how to save and invest in Zambia.

Frequently asked questions

Do I pay tax on LuSE dividends? No. A dividend declared by a company listed on the Lusaka Securities Exchange to an individual shareholder is taxed at 0%. Dividends from unlisted Zambian companies carry 15% withholding tax for residents and 20% for non-residents.

Do I pay tax when I sell my shares at a profit? Zambia does not have a capital gains tax, and shares listed on an exchange registered under the Securities Act are exempt from Property Transfer Tax. Selling shares in an unlisted Zambian company is different — there the seller pays 8% PTT on the realised value.

How long does it take to get my money after I sell? The LuSE settles on a T+3 rolling cycle, three business days after the trade. Ask your broker how quickly they then release funds to your bank account, because that is a separate step with its own timing.

How much do I need to start? Brokers set their own minimums and do not generally publish them. Ask the firm directly, and ask for the total transaction cost on a small trade at the same time — on a very small parcel the charges can be a large share of the amount invested.

Can I lose everything? Yes. Shares carry no guarantee and no deposit protection. Only invest money you can leave alone for years and would survive losing.

How do I check a broker is genuine? Look the firm up yourself on the SEC's licensee register, and ask whether it is a LuSE trading member as well as an SEC-licensed dealer. Check the SEC's Warnings and Alerts page for the firm's name. If either check is inconvenient for the salesperson, stop there.

Last reviewed: September 2026. General information, not financial, tax or legal advice. Confirm current fees, licence status and tax treatment with your broker, the SEC and the Zambia Revenue Authority before you invest.