Times Of Swaziland: E250M BOTTLED WATER IMPORTED TO ESWATINI

E250M BOTTLED WATER IMPORTED TO ESWATINI
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Mhlengi Magongo on 01/12/2022 08:08:00


MBABANE – There are numerous investment and business opportunities in Eswatini
and bottled water is one of them.
Bottled water is drinking water packaged in plastic or glass water bottles and
may be carbonated or not, for purposes of resale. The total average imports to
Eswatini amount to over E29 billion in the current financial year and bottled
water was billed at E250 million. Economist Thembinkosi Mavimbela viewed this as
an opportunity for the private sector and micro small and medium enterprises
(MSMEs) to decrease imports. He said Eswatini was capable of producing and
supplying bottled water to the market without the need of importing. “A number
of companies already have water vending machines that dispense purified water
into containers,” he said. The economist said this type of business was
imperative, as bottled water was consumed by almost 60 per cent of the
population. He said the business was self-marketing; as there was huge demand
for the product in the local market, hence the E250 million in imports. “The
fact that E250 million that has left the country should be an eye-opener to
local businesses with interest in bottled water,” he said.
Opportunity
Mavimbela added that this was also an opportunity for the unemployed with
financial difficulties; he said a proper business plan could lead them to proper
financing. “Some of the youth in our country is of the view that employment is
the only means of survival, yet filling market gaps goes a long way,” he said.
The government has various financial schemes to assist MSMEs, especially those
owned by the youth in attaining capital funding for their businesses. They said
these schemes have enough funds to finance capital projects for the youth, but
they receive fewer applications and are not properly structured. The poorly
structured applications are rejected as per the norm of the application process,
thus contributing to the funds remaining stagnant. These financial institutions
have attested to have rejected about 68 per cent of applications because they
did not meet the criteria needed to be awarded the funds.
One of the key issues highlighted collectively is unclear details of the form of
business requesting funding and management structure. The schemes said the
business plans they received were almost similar in details per constituency,
which proved lack of attention to details, thus affecting funder’s confidence.
This was mentioned during the sharpening entrepreneurship skills among the youth
workshop last week at the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade.
Apply
SEDCO’s CEO, Khethiwe Mhlanga encouraged MSMEs to apply the knowledge and
skills they had acquired from their training so that their businesses could grow
and be sustainable.
“The knowledge you have gained in this training is an investment to your
businesses because the skills you have acquired will help you to correct some of
the mistakes that you have made which will make your businesses more
sustainable,” she said. Mhlanga also encouraged the participants to reach out
to SEDCO at any point in their entrepreneurial journey, because SEDCO offers an
array of services and products for MSMEs.
Advice
“When you start to feel like your business is in trouble and you need some
business advice, please visit SEDCO. We have qualified business coaches and
counsellors that will help guide you and point you in the right direction” she
said. SEDCO also supports entrepreneurs with registering companies, attaining
trading licences, developing viable business plans and applying for funding,
business incubation, marketing and recently, developing website and company
emails. EswatiniBank has introduced funding for enterprises that are involved in
farming. This was mentioned by the bank’s Agri-business manager Mazibuse
Khumalo during the horticulture innovation platform at Royal Villas.