INTERNET SHUTDOWN COSTS BANKS INVESTMENTS

MBABANE – The internet shutdown by government in the middle of the violent protest in early July is said to have hurt the banking sector.

The country experienced a very rare wave of protests in late June, which quickly escalated into bouts of ugly and deadly riots beginning of July this year. In its third quarter report, the Eswatini Stock Exchange (ESE) shared that the banking sector started reporting that investors were pulling out their investments after day one of the unavailability of the internet. This effectively brought the ESE to a halt.

Investments

The actual value of the lost investments could not be immediately ascertained. “More disturbing was the violence and threat of violence from both the protesters and security forces, resulting in ESE staff hunkered down in their homes, fearful for their lives and property,” reads the report. Meanwhile, a week long session was scheduled in July where the Attorney General’s Chambers and Ministry of Finance staff was supposed to be working extensively on finishing the redrafting of the ESE pieces of legislation, but all had to be postponed indefinitely, due to the ongoing political upheavals.

Some of the listed companies, according to the report, had their quarter-ends, semi-annual and financial year-ends when all the mayhem erupted, leading them not being able to perform some cut-off period processes and activities which will definitely impact adversely on their quarterly, half-yearly and annual financial performances.

Postponement

For example, Royal Eswatini Sugar Corporation Limited requested for a postponement of the publication of their financial year-end audited results because they feared that the good financial performance contained therein if taken out to the public might cause the infuriated looters to burn more sugar cane fields after they burnt more than 100 hectares in June. “The anxiety and uncertainty on both the sell-side and buy-side is intolerable. Other equity counters like Inala Capital Partners Limited are yet to quantify the losses incurred after OBC Butchery in Nhlangano was looted and burnt. Likewise, Greystone Partners Limited is also facing the same predicament after some Pick ‘n Pay outlets in Matsapha were vandalised, looted and burnt,” highlighted the report.

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