MANUFACTURING, MINING TO DRIVE ECONOMIC GROWTH

EZULWINI – Significant growth in manufacturing and mining are expected to drive overall growth to 1.4 per cent in 2019 before increasing to 2.9 per cent and 1.7 per cent in 2020 and 2021, respectively.
Central Bank of Eswatini Assistant Governor Mfanufikile Dlamini has mentioned that in spite these positive numbers, downside risks remained elevated.

“In an effort to address any imbalances and to buffer our economy against risks that may have significant effects on the performance of the economy, government developed the National Development Strategy (NDS) which guides the formulation of development plans and the equitable allocation of resources,” said Dlamini during the ongoing Eswatini Economic Conference convened at Royal Swazi Spa yesterday. 

Dlamini mentioned that preliminary estimates indicated that domestic output for the year 2018 grew by 2.4 per cent against the 2.0 per cent recorded in 2017. The assistant governor recalled that economic growth for the kingdom had in recent years fallen below the desired Southern African Development Community (SADC) level of seven per cent with high indications of slow recovery expected going forward.

Dlamini advised that to achieve the country’s national objectives as outlined in the National Development Strategy (NDS) and to implement the Strategic Road map, as well as to gain a competitive edge in the region and globally, there was a need to embrace innovation regardless of the limited resources.

Dlamini stated that while Eswatini, as indicated in the Global Competitive Index of 2017, ranks among the least innovative economies, government’s investment in the science and technology Park was a positive move towards improving the country’s innovative capacity and competitiveness.

“It is one of the major decisive steps towards transforming Eswatini into a knowledge economy, that is, an economy anchored on knowledge to sustain long-term growth,” added Dlamini.
He also stated that the economic conference, by bringing together captains of industries, policy makers and support agencies of government, provided an opportunity for everyone to bring new ideas towards the developmental path of the country, especially as the country gears towards the fifth industrial revolution from which, the country should not be left behind.

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