Against a backdrop of widespread domestic economic strain in Eswatini, the Southern African landlocked kingdom’s parliament has formally adopted the Citizen Economic Empowerment Act, a sweeping piece of legislation that authorizes targeted enforcement actions, closure, and eventual seizure of non-citizen owned commercial enterprises, with a particular wave of shutdowns already impacting Asian-operated retail outlets across the nation. The policy was drafted in direct response to years of mounting grievances from local emaSwati traders, who have repeatedly argued that foreign business operators have encroached on their traditional community retail spaces, undercutting local livelihoods and creating unsustainable levels of unfair competition for small domestic vendors. The rollout of the new law has sparked fierce, divided debate among national Members of Parliament, with legislators split sharply on the appropriate transition timeline for foreign business owners to exit the market. Mbabane East representative Welcome Dlamini confirmed that trade ministry inspectors, who first launched targeted compliance checks across urban hubs including the capital city back in August, have already begun shuttering non-compliant Asian-owned shops, and raised critical concerns that most local entrepreneurs currently lack the operational experience, supply chain connections, and managerial skills to take over seized businesses successfully. Dlamini proposed a generous three-year transition window to allow foreign operators to train local successors in retail management, inventory systems, and customer retention practices before being required to depart. In stark contrast, Hhohho Regional MP Tanele Magagula rejected any extended grace period, arguing that millions of economically vulnerable emaSwati citizens cannot afford to wait for gradual policy implementation while they face ongoing poverty and food insecurity, and demanded immediate seizure of all foreign-operated businesses located in rural areas. After hours of heated deliberation, parliament reached a tentative consensus on a 12-month minimum transition period for foreign business owners to wind down operations, sell assets, or transfer ownership to local citizens, though lawmakers have not yet formally amended the original text of the bill to enshrine this timeline in law, leaving trade ministry officials authorized to continue immediate enforcement actions in the interim. The August inspection sweep also uncovered a separate set of labor rights concerns at a subset of foreign-owned enterprises, including verified employee complaints of denied paid days off, withheld annual leave, and uncompensated overtime, with at least one ongoing labor abuse case remaining under formal government investigation. Eswatini faces severe, long-running economic headwinds, with approximately 70% of its total population surviving below the international poverty line, and government officials have framed the new law as a critical safeguard to expand formal economic opportunities for native citizens, warning that unchecked widespread poverty and hunger could trigger destabilizing political unrest across the kingdom. This policy shift in Eswatini is part of a much broader regional trend of rising scrutiny of foreign-owned businesses across Southern and East Africa. In neighboring South Africa, the grassroots ‘March and March’ movement escalated its anti-undocumented migrant campaign in mid-2026, issuing a public July 30 deadline for unregistered foreign nationals to leave the country, followed by a second wave of mass protests on September 30 that devolved into targeted raids, arbitrary arrests, looting, and violent disruption of informal foreign-run businesses. At least four foreign nationals – two from Ghana and two from Nigeria – have been confirmed killed amid the xenophobic-fueled unrest in South Africa. Kenya has also rolled out intensified enforcement operations targeting foreign traders in its major urban centers in recent months, drawing renewed regional and international attention to evolving policies governing non-citizen business ownership across the African continent. For additional in-depth coverage of stories across the region, audiences can visit BBCAfrica.com, follow the outlet’s official accounts on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram, or access its curated library of Africa-focused podcasts.