WHY ESWATINI DOES NOT TICK FOR INVESTORS

 
MBABANE – A combination of factors, which include bureaucratic company registration process and lack of tax incentives, continue to make Eswatini investor unfriendly.

What also compounds the lack of investment flowing into the local economy includes the lack of online payment platforms for taxes and instant processing of trading licenses.
This strong observation was made by co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NybSys Moshtaq Ahmed during the conference on financial innovation, hosted by the Central Bank of Eswatini, in collaboration with strategic partners at the Royal Villas yesterday.

Moshtaq, who boasts of over a decade’s expertise in enterprise architecture, large scale systems design and development, explained that there was an urgent need to be more effective in implementation of policies that could foster attract of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
“The country needs to innovate the way things are done in order to attract FDI,” Moshtaq advised.

The expert, who has developed a number of e-government systems in Asia and Africa, also pointed out that there was a need to reduce the cost of telecommunications if the country sought to attract large scale investors, especially in Information Technology (IT).

“We need high speed internet to improve communication to make Eswatini a viable investment destination,” said Moshtaq.
The holder of a Master’s in IT System Management from Harvard University, explained that tax compliance would also be improved a great deal if the kingdom would develop platforms, where the businesses and the populace could be able to pay what was due to the state online.

Platform

It should, however, be mentioned that in its quest to be more effective, the Registry of Companies recently introduced an online registration platform for businesses in Eswatini, established an electronic company verification system for financial institutions and availed a mobile tracking system for businesses.

  Registrar of Companies Msebe Malinga explained that new businesses could now be registered online and be issued with a provisional registration certificate valid for a period of 21 days, through accessing the direct link on https://www. gov.online.sz. Further, as means to improve on tax compliance, a much more relaxed tax filing season with extended deadlines was introduced.
     
       

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