Eswatini shuts foreign-owned businesses in economic empowerment drive

Verified: 2 outlets have reported this story since Nov 11.

Businesses owned by Asian nationals are being closed across Eswatini as the government moves to enforce a new law aimed at increasing local ownership and participation in the economy. The crackdown follows Parliament’s approval of the Citizen Economic Empowerment Act, which seeks to give emaSwati, as citizens of the kingdom are known, greater control of selected business sectors. The legislation comes amid complaints from local traders that foreign-owned enterprises are expanding into traditional retail markets, intensifying competition and threatening the livelihoods of local entrepreneurs…