The Kingdom of Eswatini is developing its infrastructure, growing the private sector, and providing an environment that will attract foreign direct investments. The country’s development agenda, despite recent economic challenges, is fully geared to human capital development and improving the quality of life and the social well-being of its people.
This was noted on a consultation mission of executive directors of the African Development Bank Group, who visited the country in January 2019 and held consultations with various stakeholders ranging from government to civil society. They heard at first-hand the various perspectives on the socio-economic challenges and the strategies being developed to address them.
The delegation was particularly impressed by the impact of the Lower Usuthu Smallholder Irrigation Project Phase I (LUSIP I).
The project’s initial purpose was to develop infrastructure to irrigate 6,500 ha of arable land, with sugarcane as the main cash crop, to establish 65 FCs and thus provide a solid financial foundation for thousands of residents. These targets were exceeded. More than 5,000 hectares were developed for irrigation and 75 companies were established. The project was co-financed with around $130.2 million, the Bank contributing about $14.3 million, and other investors were the Government, BADEA, beneficiaries, DBSA, EIB, EEC and IFAD.
The economy of the Kingdom of Eswatini averaged 1.8% growth from 2015 to 2017 and contracted by an estimated 0.5% in 2018. In this respect, the mission-inspired confidence in the Bank’s executive directors who assured the Kingdom of Eswatini of the Bank’s full support on the path to economic recovery. Currently, the Bank portfolio in Eswatini comprises eight ongoing projects at a total of $238.7 million, spread across the agriculture, private sector, transport, and water supply and sanitation sectors.
Original source: AfDB
Published on 27 February 2019
