Eswatini king sets up unpaid invoice reporting line for small businesses
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Times of Eswatini
Eswatini’s King Mswati III has asked small businesses to report unpaid bills from the state, public companies or large corporations to the Small Enterprises Development Company. At the Entrepreneur of the Year Awards in Ezulwini, he also called for better access to finance and markets, the Times of Eswatini reports.
King Mswati III has asked small and medium-sized enterprises facing unpaid bills from the government, public companies or large corporations to report them to the Small Enterprises Development Company (SEDCO), Eswatini’s small-business support agency. The king announced that a reporting hotline would be set up at the 20th Entrepreneur of the Year Awards on Wednesday evening at the Ezulwini Palazzo International Convention Centre.
He said late payments could prevent entrepreneurs from paying wages and force viable businesses to close. The king also called on large companies to include more local businesses in their supply chains, and cited the Citizen Economic Empowerment Act and the National Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Policy 2024–2029 as frameworks for action.
Businesses recognised over the years at the awards collectively generate more than 167 million emalangeni in annual turnover. The 2026 competition brought together 362 entrepreneurs from the country’s four regions, 64% of them women, according to the Times of Eswatini. Mswati III also urged the winners to grow their businesses and pay their own suppliers on time.
