Key facts
- Parliament agreed foreign owners should get at least 12 months to leave, unless the law is formally amended.
- Mbabane East MP Welcome Dlamini told parliament trade ministry officials had begun closing Asian-owned shops.
- Hhohho Regional MP Tanele Magagula called for foreign-owned rural businesses to be seized immediately.
- Dlamini asked whether emaSwati were ready to run the businesses and proposed giving owners three years.
- The trade ministry began inspections of foreign-owned businesses in August; at least one case remains under investigation.
- The government says the law is intended to expand economic opportunities for citizens.
Eswatini's parliament agreed that foreign business owners should be given at least 12 months to leave, after MPs divided over how quickly they should be required to go, the BBC reported on November 11, 2026. The timeline holds only if the Citizen Economic Empowerment Act is formally amended to reflect it; otherwise the trade ministry could continue enforcing the law's existing provisions.
Mbabane East MP Welcome Dlamini told parliament on Tuesday that trade ministry officials had already begun enforcing the law by closing Asian-owned shops. Hhohho Regional MP Tanele Magagula called for immediate action, saying "Businesses owned by foreigners in the rural areas must be seized immediately." Dlamini questioned whether local entrepreneurs were ready to take over, asking why the Asians or foreigners could not be given at least three years so that emaSwati could learn to run the businesses. Magagula rejected that, asking why emaSwati should wait three years while suffering economically.
The law follows complaints from local traders that foreign-owned businesses are encroaching on traditional retail markets, increasing competition and threatening livelihoods. The government says it is intended to expand economic opportunities for citizens, amid concerns that poverty and hunger could fuel further political unrest. Eswatini, a small landlocked kingdom in Southern Africa, has about 70% of its population living below the poverty line.
The closures follow inspections the trade ministry launched in August. Some businesses inspected in areas such as Mbabane were found to be fully compliant, but 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.
The BBC reported that the crackdown comes as foreign-owned businesses face pressure elsewhere in the region, particularly in neighbouring South Africa, where anti-immigration campaigns have led to raids, arrests, looting and disruption of foreign-run informal businesses. It said the March and March movement intensified its campaign against undocumented immigrants on July 30, 2026, giving them a deadline to leave, and that another protest followed on September 30. The BBC reported that two Ghanaian and two Nigerian nationals were killed amid the tensions, and that Kenya has also stepped up enforcement against foreign traders.