ESWATINI TARGETS GRID ENERGY INVESTMENTS

MBABANE – “We want to invest in grid energy and we are talking to a number of investors in this space.”

This was disclosed by Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade Manqoba Khumalo. Speaking during the virtual Horasis Global Meeting on Tuesday afternoon, the minister said they would be having a lot of conversations about energy for the Southern Africa power pool. Eswatini right now is not energy independent following continued importation of a lot of energy from other countries. The theme of the global meeting was , ‘Africa: The World’s Engine of Growth.’

Horasis is said to be one of the foremost annual meetings of the world’s leading decision makers from business, government and civil society. It provides a platform for cooperation and knowledge-sharing, particularly between developed countries and emerging markets.  Grid energy storage can be defined as a collection of methods used for energy storage on a large scale within an electrical power grid. Electrical energy is stored during times when electricity is plentiful and inexpensive (especially from intermittent power plants such as renewable electricity from wind power, tidal power and solar power) or when demand is low, and later returned to the grid when demand is high, and electricity prices tend to be higher. In his address, Minister Khumalo described Eswatini as a land of investment opportunities. “We are looking at enhancing our pharmaceutical and manufacturing sectors. We believe very strongly that we possess a set of advantages in the region. that manufacturing in Eswatini with the aim of supplying the region makes sense,” said the minister.

Opportunities

Minister Khumalo further said there were so many opportunities in agriculture, mining, energy and the services industry. “African youth need be properly capacitated which speaks to how we need to invest in our human capital and how we can prepare for the future,” he stressed. Minister Khumalo highlighted that they were encouraging a lot of Foreign Direct Investments and what they were trying to do was to equate the level of opportunity that these jobs were bringing to capacity building for local young people in particular. The minister, on the other hand, said the country was very happy with the advent of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in January this year because it opened up the African market to a very small economy that is looking at leveraging an export-driven economy.

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