The AeTrade Group has identified Business Eswatini (BE) as a key stakeholder to play a pivotal role in a continental initiative aimed at reshaping the SME sector. This follows a strategic meeting held on March 24, 2026, at the Business Eswatini “War Room” at Emafini.
Operating under a mandate from the African Union (AU) Summit on financial and digital inclusion, the AeTrade Group is piloting a project designed to address the continent’s most persistent challenges: access to expertise, market linkages, and affordable finance. Eswatini, Ethiopia, and Rwanda comprise the first cohort of this initiative, which aims to create an ecosystem that enables SMEs to thrive through centralized information and digital platforms.
The collaboration seeks to establish a country program in Eswatini that is both commercial and developmental, with the private sector positioned as the primary driving force. The AeTrade Group emphasized that its digital platform is intended to function as a mall, not competition, providing a space for African products to reach African consumers. The Sokokuu.Africa Integrated Ecosystem already includes several growing platforms and partners located within the Kingdom.
A central challenge identified during the meeting was the long-standing perception of SMEs as high-risk borrowers, which has led financial institutions to impose prohibitive interest rates.
“Many financial institutions see SMEs as high risk and therefore can only finance with high-interest-rate facilities, which in turn cripples the businesses,” explained Mulualem Syoum, CEO of the AeTrade Group. He noted that while SMEs across Africa require an estimated $330 billion annually, they remain largely underserved.
To address this, the AeTrade Group outlined a framework focused on de-risking the SME environment through financial literacy training, market linkages, and the development of pre-approved credit scores. A four-year “graduation program” is also planned to guide SMEs toward long-term sustainability.
During the discussion, the AeTrade Group shared findings from a study exploring alternative funding sources, including pension funds, which represent approximately $1.8 trillion in annual investment across the continent. Redirecting even a fraction of such capital toward SMEs, the group noted, could significantly alter the growth trajectory of African businesses.
Business Eswatini CEO E. Nathi Dlamini inquired about practical ways to de-risk the SME ecosystem, prompting a response that emphasized the need for a unified funding platform to replace the fragmented, siloed approaches of the past.
“Instead of working in silos, the vision is to create a unified, blended finance platform. The strategy involves a fundamental mindset shift: moving from viewing SMEs as fragile beneficiaries to treating them as viable commercial partners,” stated Syoum, who also serves as the interim CEO of the Africa Strategic Investment Alliance (AfSIA). Eswatini was welcomed as a founding member of AfSIA at its Advisory Board Meeting held in Ezulwini on March 18, 2026.
The organization also highlighted the importance of leveraging lessons from other pilot countries to ensure cost-effectiveness in implementation. The AeTrade Group’s digital marketplace is designed to be a centralized hub where African products meet African consumers without competing against local businesses.
For Business Eswatini, this represents an opportunity to enhance the visibility of locally made products and shift the narrative from “Made in Eswatini” as a local label to a prestigious continental brand.
With over 850 digital platforms operating across Africa—most of which focus on imports—the AeTrade model aims to redirect attention toward intra-Africa trade and the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The initiative aligns with the AU’s broader objectives of boosting continental commerce and operationalizing financial inclusion.
For the business community of Eswatini, this partnership signals a new era of visibility. For the youth, who will be engaged as trade advisors, it offers a career path into the burgeoning field of intra-Africa trade. For the government, it aligns perfectly with the national agenda for economic growth and the AU’s Agenda 2063. As one of the first countries to implement this framework, Eswatini is now positioned at the forefront of a continental push for SME-led economic development.