The Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) is a state-owned investment conglomerate with an extensive and diverse portfolio spanning agriculture, forestry, mining, manufacturing, energy, financial services, telecommunications, logistics, medical services, education, tourism, real estate—and crucially, media. Within the media sector, IDC owns and controls two of Zambia’s flagship newspapers: the Zambia Daily Mail and Times of Zambia (TimesPrintPak).
Media assets
Publishing: Zambia Daily Mail, Times of Zambia
State Media Matrix Typology
Captured Public/State-Managed (CaPu)
Ownership and governance
Established in January 2014, IDC is fully owned by the Government of the Republic of Zambia through the Ministry of Finance and National Planning. As an investment holding company for state-owned enterprises (SOEs), IDC plays a strategic role in managing and growing Zambia’s parastatal assets.
The IDC board is chaired by the President of the Republic, a structure that reflects the corporation’s high-level political alignment. This board has the authority to appoint the boards of subsidiary companies, including the Zambia Daily Mail and Times of Zambia, as well as their managing directors and editorial management teams. Consequently, these newspapers remain tightly tethered to state structures despite claims of operational autonomy.
Although editorial oversight formally falls under the Ministry of Information and Media—renamed from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Services in September 2021—the functional control lies squarely with IDC’s executive leadership.
In January 2022, plans were announced for a merger of the two newspapers into a single consolidated media entity under IDC’s wing, aimed at streamlining operations and reducing redundancies. However, no substantive updates on the merger’s progress have emerged since that announcement, and the plan appears to be stalled or quietly shelved.
Source of funding and budget
The Zambia Daily Mail and Times of Zambia are primarily sustained by commercial revenue streams, such as advertising, print sales, and government procurement contracts. However, financial transparency has been virtually nonexistent in recent years.
Given the country’s macroeconomic challenges, media analysts suggest that both newspapers are likely struggling to remain solvent without hidden state subsidies or cross-subsidization from IDC’s more profitable ventures.
Editorial independence
While there are no statutory mandates requiring Zambia Daily Mail or Times of Zambia to adopt a pro-government stance, their editorial lines consistently reflect the interests of the ruling party. Journalists and media experts cite pervasive political bias, attributing it to the government’s direct hand in appointing editorial leadership.
Frequent board dismissals—often without explanation—underscore the newspapers’ vulnerability to political pressure. This instability reinforces perceptions that editorial control remains an instrument of the state rather than an independent journalistic process.
As of June 2025, no regulatory statute nor independent oversight mechanism exists to safeguard the editorial autonomy of these IDC-owned publications. Content analyses conducted by local experts for this project continue to reflect a clear editorial tilt favoring the executive branch and the ruling United Party for National Development (UPND), following a similar pattern seen under previous administrations.
June 2025