By Zweli Martin Dlamini

In this country we are facing a serious crisis within the Small and Medium Enterprises(SMEs) sector, businesses owned by emaSwati are shutting down and Government is doing literally nothing to mitigate the situation.

Every Friday around 12 midday in the Mbabane and Manzini cities, almost all shops normally shutdown because the owners of the Muslim faith would be visiting their place of worship.

I am not blaming Asians for shutting down their shops, Christians do the same on Sundays so they can worship God but, contextualizing the seriousness of the situation, Asians have literally taken over the retail industry within the country’s two(2) major cities.

Well, I sometimes criticize Ok Foods Director Lincon Motsa because of his arrogance.

But when it comes to business in the retail industry, we are now left with him and a few citizens and for that, he must be applauded, supported and encouraged so he can continue competing in this industry that was once dominated by emaSwati.

As a journalist, I am sensing a serious escalation of the crisis, it seems our economy is now at the hands of foreigners such that, every Friday you find emaSwati sitting helplessly at the doorsteps of Asian shops, waiting for the owners to open after concluding their rituals, worship or whatever they call it.

Our Constitution promotes and protects the right to freedom of religion,I don’t want to be seen violating that right, in fact as the editor, I should be seen protecting  human rights.

But before being a journalist, I am Liswati born at LaMgabhi eTiyeni and I am extremely worried with the closure of companies owned by fellow emaSwati, even Government is contributing to this by delaying payments after awarding tenders to companies owned by emaSwati.

The Federation of Eswatini Business Community(FESBC) once raised this issue but, their approach in my view, was not only unprofessional but, had a potential to cause anarchy and discourage Foreign Direct Investments, their approach was actually a threat to the economy.

The indigenous businesspeople were supposed to engage a Consultant to investigate the seriousness of this crisis and compile a report.

Local businesspeople must learn to invest and financially support projects that seek to protect and promote their businesses, we have many Consultants in the country who are capable of conducting the research.

The report will enable us to know how many businesses closed down this year or the past five(5) years and what triggered their collapse.

Furthermore, the Consultant will make recommendations as part of the findings on what needs to be done to mitigate the situation and capacitate indigenous businesses to strive and be self-sustainable.

But, the concerns regarding the closure of businesses owned by emaSwati does not mean, we must close doors for foreign investors in order for eSwatini owned businesses to strive.

But, Government must find ways to promote and give priority to emaSwati when awarding tenders and introduce Capacity Building Programs to help indigenous businesses to strive, be self- sustainable, innovative and competitive.

After receiving a tender, Liswati will share the money with other emaSwati through salaries, re-investments and purchasing of assets, the millions will circulate within our economy.

King Mswati is busy these days officially opening businesses, as a Head of State he must ask himself how many businesses out of those he officially opened are owned by emaSwati?.

We are facing a serious crisis in this country and, the Government seems not to care as businesses owned by emaSwati shutdown.