A growing practice where foreign nationals allegedly operate businesses under the names of emaSwati permit holders has come under sharp scrutiny, with Manzini Regional Administrator, Chief Gija, warning that the trend is stripping locals of meaningful participation in their own economy.
Speaking during Eswatini Quality Awards 2025, Chief Gija raised concern over what he described as a widespread abuse of trading permits issued to emaSwati, particularly in Swazi Nation Land (SNL) areas. While these permits are intended to empower locals to run businesses, he revealed that in many cases, the actual operations are controlled by foreign nationals.
“On the ground, you find these businesses being run by foreigners, while the real owners of the permits are reduced to cleaners,” he said. “Where are we taking the economy of Eswatini by so doing? We are the ones taking the economy away from us.”
His remarks highlight a deepening governance and enforcement gap in the country’s informal and semi-formal business sectors, raising questions about whether current empowerment mechanisms are achieving their intended outcomes.
Chief Gija pointed to local structures tasked with regulating business activity in SNL areas, noting that while these institutions were established to uplift emaSwati entrepreneurs, loopholes are being exploited, creating space for what is commonly referred to as “fronting.”
“A nation cannot achieve true economic stability while its own people remain spectators in critical sectors of the economy,” he said. “The strength of a society must be built on the strength of its people.”
Responding to these concerns, the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade, Manqoba Khumalo, acknowledged the structural imbalances within the economy and outlined government’s plan to decisively shift control towards emaSwati.
“We need to take charge of this economy as emaSwati,” said Khumalo. “It is an indictment on us that since 1968, we have not yet placed the economy of this country in the hands of its own people.”
The Minister revealed that government has already enacted the Citizen Economic Empowerment Act, which seeks to reserve certain sectors and business activities exclusively for emaSwati, while also introducing deliberate measures to increase local participation in mainstream commerce.
Among the proposed interventions are regulations that will compel major retailers to allocate a defined percentage of shelf space to locally produced goods, alongside targeted incentives such as tax breaks, improved access to finance, and government-backed guarantee schemes for local entrepreneurs.
Khumalo stressed that the urgency of these reforms is driven by the current structure of the economy, where over 75 percent of goods consumed in the country are imported, and key sectors such as retail and services, accounting for more than half of economic activity, are largely dominated by non-emaSwati players.
“This is why you see economic growth without meaningful change in people’s lives,” he said. “The economy may grow, but unemployment remains high, inequality persists, and poverty levels do not decline because that growth is not in the hands of emaSwati.”
To ensure that locals are not only included but also competitive, the Minister highlighted the role of institutions such as the Small Enterprises Development Company (SEDCO), which is tasked with building the capacity of local businesses, as well as regulatory bodies responsible for enforcing fair competition and quality standards.
However, both leaders emphasised that legislation alone will not be enough without strict enforcement and accountability at grassroots level.