FOREIGN TRADERS ON 12-MONTH COUNTDOWN: Eswatini orders Asian-owned businesses to pack up and leave
ESWATINI – Foreign business owners in Eswatini have been handed at least 12 months to pack up and leave the kingdom after Parliament agreed to a deadline aimed at clearing the way for local entrepreneurs to take over the retail sector.
The decision comes as the government turns up the heat on foreign-owned enterprises, with Asian-owned shops already being shut down in an increasingly aggressive enforcement drive.
At the centre of the storm is the controversial Citizen Economic Empowerment Act, legislation designed to give emaSwati – citizens of the kingdom – greater ownership and participation in businesses traditionally dominated by foreign traders.
And Parliament is clearly divided over how quickly the foreigners should be shown the door.
During a heated debate on Tuesday, Mbabane East MP Welcome Dlamini revealed that Trade Ministry officials had already begun enforcing the law by closing Asian-owned shops.
But Dlamini questioned whether local entrepreneurs were ready to take over the businesses, arguing that foreign operators should be allowed to train their successors before leaving.
He proposed giving them three years to prepare emaSwati to run the enterprises.
Hhohho Regional MP Tanele Magagula was having none of it.
She demanded immediate action, arguing that foreign-owned businesses in rural areas should be seized without delay.
Magagula also questioned why struggling local traders should be expected to wait another three years while foreign operators continued making money.
Parliament eventually settled on a compromise: foreign business owners should be given at least 12 months to exit.
However, there is a potentially explosive legal complication. Unless the law is formally amended to incorporate the agreed grace period, the Trade Ministry could continue enforcing its existing provisions, leaving foreign traders exposed to further closures.
The crackdown follows inspections launched by the Trade Ministry in August, with some businesses in areas including the capital, Mbabane, found to be fully compliant.
But the inspections also raised concerns about employment practices at foreign-owned enterprises, including complaints involving days off, annual leave and overtime. At least one case remains under investigation.
The government says the legislation is intended to widen economic opportunities for emaSwati and protect local entrepreneurs from being squeezed out of traditional retail markets.
The political and economic stakes are considerable.
Eswatini, a small landlocked kingdom ruled by absolute monarch King Mswati III, is battling deep poverty, with approximately 70 percent of its population living below the poverty line.
Economic frustration has fuelled growing demands for political reform, culminating in deadly pro-democracy unrest in 2021.
The royal family has also faced criticism over extravagant spending while many ordinary emaSwati struggle to make ends meet. Thousands seek employment in neighbouring South Africa, sending money home to support their families.
The latest crackdown places Eswatini firmly within a growing regional battle over foreign traders and control of local economies.
South Africa has witnessed more explosive confrontations, with anti-migrant campaigns triggering raids, arrests, intimidation and attacks on foreign-owned informal businesses.
Anti-immigrant groups have issued deadlines demanding that undocumented migrants leave, with campaigns this year accompanied by violence. Two Ghanaian and two Nigerian nationals were reported killed amid the tensions.
Kenya has also intensified enforcement against foreign traders, raising fresh questions about the treatment of foreign nationals operating businesses across the region.
For Eswatini, the government’s argument is that local citizens must get a bigger slice of the economic pie.
But with Asian-owned shops already facing closures and foreign traders now staring at a 12-month countdown, the battle over who gets to do business in the kingdom is far from over.