ONLINE company registration in the country declined by 70.3% in the second quarter of 2026/27, raising questions about the effectiveness of government’s digital business services.
The ministry of commerce, industry and trade’s second quarter performance report, covering the period ending September 2026, shows that only 632 applicants used the online company registration service, compared with 2 127 during the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year.
This represents a decline of 1 495 online registrations, despite government’s stated ambition to simplify business registration through digital platforms and improve the ease of doing business.
The decline is particularly significant given that the registrar of companies registered 790 companies during the quarter, compared with 952 in the same period in 2025/26, representing a 17% reduction in overall registrations.
The report, which was tabled in Parliament last week, attributes the challenges affecting the department’s operations partly to network connectivity problems and continued dependence on manual administrative processes.
It specifically identifies “network connectivity challenges, which intermittently affect the efficiency and timeliness of departmental operations and service delivery.”
It also acknowledges that “reliance on manual back-end processes and procedures” compromises efficiency and slows down service delivery.
The ministry further reported that manual payment processes at Eswatini Revenue Service (ERS) have affected both company registration and renewal processes, raising concerns about the extent to which the registration system has been integrated with other government services.
The findings come against the backdrop of broader digital transformation challenges identified by the World Bank. In its 2025 Eswatini Economic Update, the institution highlighted high broadband costs, limited interoperability between government systems and digital skills gaps as obstacles to the country’s digitalisation ambitions. It also noted that only about 58% of the population uses the internet, despite nearly 95% having access to 4G network coverage.
The registrar’s report indicates that government intends to address some of the administrative shortcomings through legislative and technological reforms. Among the department’s planned activities for the next quarter is to have the Companies Bill passed in Parliament and secure approval for the development of an electronic business registry.
The proposed reforms are expected to support the department’s objective of creating a simplified business environment through digital registration platforms.
However, the latest performance figures suggest that improving access to online registration will require more than introducing digital systems. Reliable connectivity, efficient payment mechanisms and streamlined back-end processes will also be necessary to make the service accessible and dependable.
