PAY ATTENTION: TUKO is in WhatsApp Channels now! Subscribe and read news in your favourite messenger.
Elijah Ntongai is an experienced editor at TUKO.co.ke, with more than four years in financial, business, labour and technology research and reporting. His work provides valuable insights into Kenyan, African, and global trends.
Eswatini has launched a sweeping closure of foreign-owned businesses, with trade ministry officials shutting shops across the kingdom after Parliament approved the Citizen Economic Empowerment Act and agreed on a minimum 12-month window for non-compliant foreign traders to either regularise their operations or close down.
The enforcement, which began with inspections in August 2026, has fallen heavily on businesses operated by Asian nationals.
Kenyan woman punished: What Kenyan workers in Saudi Arabia must know about morality laws
As reported by BBC Africa, Mbabane East MP Welcome Dlamini confirmed in Parliament that ministry officials had already started closing Asian-owned shops along with the stock held inside, warning that EmaSwati workers employed at these businesses were losing their jobs as a result.
Search option is now available at TUKO! Feel free to search the content on topics/people you enjoy reading about in the top right corner ;)
Local traders had complained that foreign-owned businesses were encroaching on traditional retail markets, intensifying competition and squeezing their livelihoods.
