LOCAL entrepreneurs have been issued a bold invitation to stop thinking small and start scaling up.
This was during the opening of Standard Bank Eswatini ‘Grow Beyond Borders SME’ seminar at House on Fire yesterday.
The message was clear; the time had come for local micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to set their sights beyond the country’s borders.
The event allowed entrepreneurs to be capacitated on how Standard Bank could empower them and the requirements to secure finance.
The seminar offered an opportunity for entrepreneurs to present this businesses to a panel, seek finance advice from the bank and offered various panel discussions aimed at capacitating entrepreneurs ahead of the Standard Bank Luju Food and Lifestyle Festival which has a mandate to empower small businesses.
Speaking during the event, Standard Bank Eswatini Head of Business and Commercial Banking Mlamuli Hlatshwayo said when MSMEs become growth-oriented, they can overcome hurdles and access a market far greater than Eswatini’s domestic size. Hlatshwayo’s remarks captured both the urgency and the opportunity surrounding Eswatini’s entrepreneurial sector which currently employs around 21 per cent of the national workforce.
Despite their impact, many MSMEs remain informal, under-funded and cut off from the regional markets they could easily thrive in, with the right support. Citing regional statistics, Hlatshwayo pointed out that more than half of formal MSMEs across sub-Saharan Africa were financially underserved.
He noted that funding was not the only challenge as skills gaps, poor infrastructure and gender disparities continued to slow down potential business growth.
“Many entrepreneurs still struggle with basic business functions, from marketing and accounting to managing cash flow. Others are limited by power outages, unreliable roads and patchy internet. And we must not ignore the structural exclusion faced by women-led enterprises,” he said.
Hlatshwayo further offered solutions and Standard Bank’s blueprint for helping businesses leap over these obstacles.
He said the bank’s mandate was to transform local MSMEs from survival-mode to scaled-up success stories.
“Our approach is not just about finance, but also about building businesses that are resilient, digital and ready for regional trade,” he said. Adding, he highlighted that the bank’s four-pillar support system included access to tailored finance and investment products for every stage of the business.
He added personalised advisory through dedicated relationship managers, robust digital platforms to streamline operations, holistic support including training, market access and business mentorship.
The bank also offers practical tools that enable businesses to trade regionally and internationally like forex and trade finance solutions, cross-border transaction platform and compliance support across the Southern African Development Bank (SADC) region.
Taking it a step further, Hlatshwayo highlighted the bank’s involvement in the annual Standard Bank Luju Food and Lifestyle Festival.
Far from being just a lifestyle event, he said Luju has evolved into a live business incubator, giving MSMEs a stage to test products, build networks and enter new markets. Hlatshwayo challenged not only to entrepreneurs, but to government officials development agencies and fellow financial institutions.
“Together with House on Fire, we are helping young entrepreneurs, women-led businesses and rural innovators step into the spotlight and onto regional stages. Let us reimagine the possibilities of a connected, ambitious MSME sector,” he urged.
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