Hon. Minister Neal Rijkenberg Profile

Minister for Finance Honourable Neal Herman Rijkenberg (MP) is an accomplished businessman, having founded Montigny Investments Limited in 1997, and, as CEO, grew it into the largest private, integrated timber company in Southern Africa.

Minister Rijkenberg was born and raised at Madulini in the Shiselweni region. His passion for business was kindled at an early age, with the Minister establishing a bee keeping business while in high school. In 1997, he established Montigny.

In 2018, Honourable Rijkenberg was appointed by His Majesty King Mswati III into Parliament and later as Minister for Finance. Among his achievements in his first term as Minister of Finance was a reduction of the country’s fiscal deficit from 7.5% to 0.3% of GDP, bringing stock of debt to sustainable levels. During this time, Honourable Rijkenberg also pioneered the establishment of the SACU stabilisation fund to cushion the country against the volatility of SACU receipts. In November 2023, His Majesty reappointed Honourable Rijkenberg into both positions

The Honourable Minister, who studied and has a passion for agriculture, used to sit as director on the following boards; ESWADE, Montigny Investments, Minerals Board, and Silulu and currently sits in the Royal Trustees and Tibiyo TakaNgwane. Additionally, he has chaired a number of boards, including Bulembu Ministries, which he co-founded; Challenge Ministries and Usuthu Forest Primary School.