BY PHUMELELE GAMEDZE
MBABANE– Eswatini has set its sights on bringing every liSwati into the formal financial system as a nationwide survey gets under way to establish who is benefiting from banking, mobile money and emerging digital financial services — and who is still being left behind.
The FinScope Eswatini 2026 Consumer Survey is collecting information from 3200 households across all four regions, providing the country with its most comprehensive update on financial inclusion since the previous survey recorded an 87 per cent inclusion rate in 2018.
Launched in July, the exercise is expected to continue until the end of October 2026 and will examine not only whether emaSwati have access to financial services, but also whether they are actually using them and benefiting from them.
For ordinary households, the findings could ultimately influence how banks, mobile money operators, fintech companies and policymakers design financial products — from savings and payments to other services that increasingly form part of everyday life.
Principal Statistician at the Central Statistical Office (CSO), Henson Dlamini, said data collection had already started and would provide critical information for future policy decisions.
“We have started data collection. As of yesterday. And we are expected to continue up until the end of October 2026,” Dlamini said during an interview featured on Eswatini TV’s MarketView ERS Tax Talk.
Dlamini said the information gathered would help authorities and financial-sector stakeholders understand how much progress has been achieved since 2018 and identify areas requiring further attention.
With the previous study putting financial inclusion at 87 per cent, the ambition is now significantly higher.
“I think they want to get up to 100%,” Dlamini said.
FROM ACCESS TO ACTUAL USE
While having a bank account or mobile money wallet may suggest that a person is financially included, authorities say the real picture is more complicated.
The 2026 survey will therefore dig deeper into whether people regularly use the financial products available to them.
Gcina Nxumalo, Deputy Director for Financial Inclusion and Development Finance at the Central Bank of Eswatini, said the survey would help stakeholders identify gaps in access to finance.
“For us, there are quite a number of stakeholders; we have the banking institutions, the non-bank financial institutions, as well as the fintechs,” Nxumalo said.
“We want to, in terms of trying to improve access, see where the missing gaps maybe are in terms of access to finance.”
He highlighted an important distinction between simply owning a financial product and actively using it.
“You find that maybe it’s actually access and usage. You find that you have a bank account as from mobile money but that bank account is not utilised,” he said.
This means someone may technically be counted as financially included because they have an account, yet rarely use that account for saving, payments or other financial transactions.
The survey is expected to help establish which services emaSwati prefer, how they use them and whether traditional banking or mobile money is playing the greater role in expanding financial inclusion.
DIGITAL GROWTH BRINGS NEW QUESTIONS
Eswatini’s financial landscape has changed considerably since the last FinScope survey.
In 2018, mobile money was already transforming how people accessed financial services. Since then, the sector has expanded further through fintech services, additional mobile money products, electronic Know Your Customer systems and other digital innovations.
These developments have made financial services more accessible to many people, particularly those who may not regularly visit conventional bank branches.
However, rapid digitalisation has also introduced new concerns, including cybersecurity.
Nxumalo said cybersecurity would form part of the areas being examined as financial institutions and their partners seek ways of protecting consumers.
“I know the Governor has talked about cybersecurity issues. Those are some of the areas that we want to make sure, working with our partners, how do we circumvent all the risks that are posed?” he said.
3200 HOUSEHOLDS TO SPEAK FOR THE COUNTRY
Although only a fraction of Eswatini’s households will be interviewed, officials say the sample has been scientifically designed to provide a reliable national picture.
The survey will reach 3200 households within 320 enumeration areas, with participants selected in a manner intended to represent the wider population.
Dlamini said this approach means the results can be used to understand conditions across the country, including households that will not personally receive visits from survey teams.
“They were representatively selected in a scientific way that at the end of the day will be able to say: this is the situation in the country, which takes into account even those households which we will not visit,” he said.
The outcome could help determine where financial services remain difficult to access, which products people are not using and what additional measures may be required to make financial services safer and more useful.
PUBLIC URGED TO IDENTIFY FIELDWORKERS
As teams move from community to community conducting interviews, households have also been given ways of identifying legitimate FinScope fieldworkers.
Officials said authorised data collectors will wear branded clothing, carry official identification materials and travel in registered rented vehicles. They will also work in groups during household visits.
Nxumalo said the identification measures were important for ensuring communities felt safe cooperating with the teams.
“We have T-shirts similar to what I’m wearing, which also have the same writings, making sure that these people are coming from the government. They are authentic,” he said.
Beyond generating statistics, the FinScope Eswatini 2026 Consumer Survey could provide a roadmap for the country’s next stage of financial inclusion.
Its findings are expected to help Government, the Central Bank of Eswatini, commercial banks, non-bank financial institutions and fintech companies better understand the barriers that continue to prevent some emaSwati from accessing or fully using available financial services.
For consumers, that could eventually translate into financial products that are easier to access, more relevant to their needs and safer to use.
With Eswatini already recording an 87 per cent financial inclusion rate in 2018, the 2026 survey will now reveal whether the Kingdom has closed more of the remaining gap — and what still needs to be done on the journey towards 100 per cent financial inclusion.
(Courtesy Pic)
