Eswatini closes Asian-owned shops as foreign business crackdown begins

Trade ministry officials have already begun closing Asian-owned shops across Eswatini, Mbabane East MP Welcome Dlamini told Parliament on Tuesday. The closures are the first real enforcement of the Citizen Economic Empowerment Act, which Parliament approved to raise ownership and participation by emaSwati, as the kingdom's citizens are known. The law answers years of complaints from local traders that foreign-owned businesses are encroaching on traditional retail markets, hiking competition and threatening livelihoods.

MPs are divided on the pace. Hhohho Regional MP Tanele Magagula demanded immediate seizures, telling Parliament: 'Businesses owned by foreigners in the rural areas must be seized immediately.' Dlamini pushed back, questioning whether local entrepreneurs were ready to take over and arguing foreigners should get time to train their successors. '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?' he asked. Magagula rejected the idea outright: 'Why must we wait for three years while emaSwati suffer?'

Parliament ultimately agreed foreign business owners should be given at least 12 months to leave. But unless the law is formally amended to reflect that timeline, the ministry could keep enforcing its existing provisions.

The shutdowns follow inspections the trade ministry launched in August. Some businesses checked in areas such as Mbabane were found to be fully compliant. The inspections also raised concerns about working conditions and administrative practices at foreign-owned enterprises, including employee complaints over days off, annual leave and overtime. At least one case remains under investigation.

Eswatini, a small landlocked kingdom in Southern Africa, says the new law is meant to expand economic opportunities for citizens. About 70% of the population lives below the poverty line, and the government has warned that poverty and hunger could fuel further political unrest.

Pressure on foreign traders is mounting across the region. In neighbouring South Africa, anti-immigration campaigns have brought raids, arrests, looting and the disruption of foreign-run informal businesses. The March and March movement intensified its campaign against undocumented immigrants on July 30, 2026, handing them a deadline to leave, with another protest following on September 30. Two Ghanaian and two Nigerian nationals were reported killed amid the tensions. Kenya has also stepped up enforcement against foreign traders, drawing renewed attention to how foreign nationals and their businesses are treated across the region.