Eswatini's Parliament approves law to boost citizen business ownership

Eswatini's Parliament has approved the Citizen Economic Empowerment Act, a law intended to increase ownership and participation in the economy by emaSwati, the citizens of the southern African country. Lawmakers also agreed that foreign business owners should be given at least 12 months to leave, according to the BBC.

The law follows complaints from local traders that foreign-owned businesses were moving into traditional retail markets. Traders said the added competition threatened their livelihoods.

The debate in Parliament also showed how far lawmakers were willing to go. Welcome Dlamini, a member of Parliament for Mbabane East, told the chamber that trade ministry officials had already begun enforcing the law by closing Asian-owned shops. He proposed that Asian or foreign business owners be given at least three years before removal, so that emaSwati could learn to run the businesses.

Tanele Magagula, a member of Parliament for the Hhohho region, took a harder line. He called for businesses owned by foreigners in rural areas to be seized immediately.

The trade ministry had earlier begun checking businesses. It launched inspections in August, and some businesses inspected in areas such as Mbabane were found to be fully compliant.