Eswatini issues 12-month exit order to illegal foreign businesses

Eswatini’s Parliament has agreed to give foreign business owners operating illegally at least 12 months to leave under a new citizen empowerment law.

Eswatini’s Parliament has agreed foreign business owners operating illegally in the kingdom should be given at least 12 months to leave, as authorities begin shutting down Asian-owned shops, SaharaReporters reports.

The decision followed a heated debate over the newly passed Citizen Economic Empowerment Act, which seeks to increase business ownership by emaSwati, as citizens are known.

Hhohho Regional MP Tanele Magagula demanded immediate action: “Businesses owned by foreigners in the rural areas must be seized immediately.”

Mbabane East MP Welcome Dlamini, however, asked: “Why can’t we give the Asians or foreigners at least three years before ‘kicking them’ out so that emaSwati can learn to run the businesses?”

“Why must we wait for three years while emaSwati suffer?” Magagula responded.

The trade ministry could still enforce the law unless it is amended to reflect the timeline.

About 70 per cent of Eswatini’s population lives below the poverty line, and the government says the law will widen economic opportunities for citizens.