Swaziland

Starting a Business in

Swaziland

Listed below is a detailed summary of the bureaucratic and legal hurdles an entrepreneur must overcome in order to incorporate and register a new firm, along with their associated time and set-up costs.  It examines the procedures, time and cost involved in launching a commercial or industrial firm with up to 50 employees and start-up capital of 10 times the economy's per-capita gross national income (GNI).

The information appearing on this page was collected as part of the Doing Business project, which measures and compares regulations relevant to the life cycle of a small- to medium-sized domestic business in 183 economies. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2011.

  • Standardized Company

  • Legal Form: Private Limited Liability Company
  • City: Mbabane

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Reserve name at the company registry

The founder writes a letter to the Registrar of Companies proposing three company names. The database of company names is handwritten. The fee is paid at the Revenue Office.
1 day SZL 20
2 Pay fee for reserving a name and registration fee

All official fees in Swaziland are paid at the Treasury (including the cost for procedure 1) instead of the relevant agency itself. the Government is currently working on creating a Revenue Authority to centralize payments further.
1 day included in previous procedure
3 Obtain tax clearance for company directors

To register a new company, founders must obtain a tax clearance statement for each director.
1 day no charge
4 Preparation of articles of association and memorandum by a lawyer

The lawyer’s fee varies between SZL 1,500 and SZL 3,000.
2 days SZL 2000
5 Registration with the Company Registrar

The investor must submit the following documents to the Company registrar:
• Tax clearance – original - one copy
• Memorandum Articles of Association – 3 copies (1 original 1 remaining with the file and one copy for client).
• Form E that identifies the residential address of the business
• Form T-42 that is designed for payment of fees for first registration.
• Government revenue receipts – (for the payment of the reservation of the name and registration fee)
• ID – a copies notarized Receipt of procedure 1 regarding the successful reservation of the company name.


 21 days SZL 360
6 Request trading license

All companies require a trading license, except for professional companies that have a different licensing system. To obtain a trading license, the company requests a hearing before the Ministry of Enterprise and Employment. The Ministry publishes a notice in a daily newspaper (The Observer) at least 21 days before the hearing, allowing individuals and companies to object to the company’s formation.

Companies must submit the certificate of incorporation upon requesting a hearing. The following documents must be submitted before the hearing and can be obtained while waiting for the hearing:
- Bank statement, proving the directors have enough funds to run the company.
- Lease agreement (for the company location).
- Company tax registration.
- Certificate of inspection by health department or city council.
- Memorandum and articles of association.
- Receipt of license fee payment.
A company might need more than one trading license if it does more than one activity. For instance, if the company produces and sells its goods to the public. Each activity has a different license fee.
30 days SZL 50 to E10,000 (most likely a general services or manufacturing company would pay a license of E3,000 to E5,000, therefore E4,000 is a reasonable estimate for this fee)
* 7 Pay trading license fee


1 day (simultaneous with procedure 6) included in previous procedure
* 8 Obtain bank statement


1 day (simultaneous with procedure 6) no charge
* 9 Obtain company tax identification

Company founders must inform the tax authority about the new company.
1 day (simultaneous with procedure 6) no charge
* 10 Certificate of inspection by health department or city council

Depending on which agency has jurisdiction, the city council or health department issues a trading license upon first inspecting the business location.
1 day (simultaneous with procedure 6) included in license cost
* 11 Register workers with Provident Fund

Upon hire, the employer must register the employee with the Swaziland National Provident Fund, which provides pension and occupational injury or illness benefits.
1 day (simultaneous with procedure 6) no charge
* 12 Enroll workers in worker's compensation insurance

All employers must register its employees for worker’s compensation insurance with the Royal Swazi Insurance Corporation. The rates vary by industry.
1 day (simultaneous with procedure 6) no charge
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.
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