Chivayo granted Eswatini citizenship, diplomatic passport

Zimbabwean businessman Wicknell Chivayo says he has been granted Eswatini citizenship and a diplomatic passport by King Mswati III following what he described as a private audience with the monarch at the Royal Palace on Thursday.

In a lengthy post on his verified Facebook page, accompanied by photographs showing him holding an Eswatini diplomatic passport, Chivayo said the king had instructed his administration to grant him citizenship after accepting him "as his young, fellow African son."

"Coupled to this, I was further presented with a diplomatic passport, meant to facilitate ease of travel and doing business in Eswatini, in the various pursuits in infrastructure development," Chivayo wrote.

According to Chivayo, the meeting covered a range of issues, including philanthropy, politics and investment opportunities in the southern African kingdom.

He claimed that King Mswati had taken a keen interest in his charitable activities in Zimbabwe and elsewhere on the continent and had commended his support for liberation and governing parties in the region, particularly Zanu PF under President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Chivayo further revealed that discussions centred on opportunities in Eswatini's energy sector, where he said his companies and strategic partners were prepared to mobilise capital and raise debt financing from local banks and pension funds to support infrastructure projects.

"Unlike our beloved motherland Zimbabwe, which has suffered from decades of economic sanctions and perceived sovereign risk, Eswatini presents a grand opportunity for massive development," he wrote, citing the kingdom's favourable credit profile and access to multilateral development financing.

The development marks another high-profile engagement for the businessman, whose companies, Intratrek and ICM Communications, have secured state contracts in Zimbabwe worth nearly US$1 billion, largely in the energy sector.

Chivayo, a close ally of President Mnangagwa and a prominent financier of Zanu PF, has faced persistent criticism from opponents who accuse him of leveraging political connections to secure lucrative government tenders. He has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

King Mswati becomes the latest African leader to host the 45-year-old businessman. Chivayo has previously shared details of meetings with several heads of state across the continent, including William Ruto, Samia Suluhu Hassan, Peter Mutharika, Daniel Chapo, Bola Tinubu and Hakainde Hichilema.

Neither the Eswatini government nor the royal household had immediately issued a public statement confirming the citizenship grant or the issuance of the diplomatic passport at the time of publication.