ESWATINI’S PROGRAMME OF ACTION: PM NEEDS OVER E220BN FOR NKWE

MBABANE – Talk about an ambitious man with big dreams!

This best describes the country’s Prime Minister (PM), Russell Mmiso Dlamini, following that he dreams that he and his administration will raise over E220 billion in order to achieve goals that have been set out in the policy statement that he presented a few months ago. This translates to a yearly budget of E44 billion. It must be said that the national budget for the current financial year stands at E29.4 billion, which has been divided across the government ministries and departments. The over E220 billion budget is contained in the Eswatini Government Programme of Action (PoA) 2024/2025 to 2028/2029, which he finally made public yesterday.

The plan shows that the PM, together with his administration, dream of achieving even the hardest of goals in different sectors and has detailed timelines and the budget amounts that will be needed. Some of the projects that are expected to be implemented in order to achieve the goals have budgets that are more than E5 billion. As shared by the PM himself, the PoA is the one that will provide insight into the initiatives that government will embark on to achieve the goals set out in the policy statement including timelines.

Initiatives

The PoA is composed of six objectives to guide implementation of strategic initiatives and realisation of the desired impact.  The six objectives, together with related strategic initiatives are presented and unpacked in detail in the document. It is stated that each government ministry is expected to align its priorities, annual plans and budget with these objectives and priorities. The first objective is to stimulate exponential inclusive economic growth of 12 per cent by the end of the financial year 2029. In the document, it is stated that the PoA is an initial step for the 12th Government of Eswatini in leading the country towards the ambitious long-term transformation of attaining a developed and First World status, a mandate from the Throne.

It is mentioned that it provides a structured approach to undertake deliberate effort that are government-led, export-oriented and foreign direct investment-driven to stimulate exponential inclusive economic growth, quality jobs and wealth creation, curtail corruptions and build strong institutions facilitating efficient service delivery and transformational development in alignment with the Sibaya and NDP aspirations. “Its purpose is to create a developed, inclusive, peaceful, most stable and economically prosperous Kingdom of Eswatini established on cultural values and affording well-being to all emaSwati,” reads part of the document.

Well-capitalised

It is highlighted that the ambitions will be fuelled by a non-negotiable business-ready- environment, robust investor protections, and a well-capitalised sovereign wealth fund, which should become the kingdom’s primary holding company for State-owned assets and the key partner for foreign investors seeking to set up in the country. “The fund will invest in critical sectors of the economy, including new and emerging sectors, inheriting existing State-owned assets and developing new sector- building companies – ‘national champions’, it is mentioned in the document.

Also highlighted is that the PoA is configured to be a short-to-medium-term plan anchored on the 2023 Sibaya (People’s Parliament) submissions and the National Development Plan (NDP) 2023/24 – 2027/28. It is highlighted that the Sibaya of 2023 ended on a high note, with a Speech from the Throne, where His Majesty King Mswati III announced Dlamini as the new PM. It states that Dlamini, together with the whole of government, were tasked with a nkwe mandate to stimulate a fast inclusive economic growth, end poverty, curtail corruption, create employment, develop enabling infrastructure, and strengthen the health and education system in Eswatini.Contained in the early pages, is a context and problem statement, whereby insight is shared on the economic growth and poverty landscape.

Growth

“Eswatini is due for disruptive transformation as a radical catalyst for the desired exponential inclusive economic growth and social development. “Over the past 20 years, Eswatini has been trapped in a path of low growth, high poverty, high inequality and limited inclusion with disparities in access to services, which limit the productive capacity of the poor,” it mentioned. The context states that gross domestic product (GDP) growth has remained flat, while foreign investment has declined, and unemployment has not improved.

It is also stated as part of the context that research shows that the economy has been built on a limited productive base, which has even narrowed over time, something which has been cited as a tragedy of the last decade. Also highlighted is that the standards of living are stagnating, and the economy is highly vulnerable to shocks, aligning with the lamentations made during the 2023 Sibaya submissions. With the same trajectory of the last decade, the document states, the country will not become an upper middle-income country by 2030, not meeting policymakers’, Sibaya and Ingwenyama’s aspirations of becoming a developed economy in the medium to long run.

Exponential

“It is on this premise that this PoA recommends a disruptive transformation to stimulate the desired exponential inclusive economic growth and social development interventions,” it is stated. In terms of values, the document states that in implementing this PoA, the Government of Eswatini will adopt six values defined in table above. All government officials are expected and will be enabled to uphold these values in executing the  ambitions contained in this PoA. The values are cited as patriotism, boldness, agility, innovation, excellence and integrity.

In the conclusion, it is stated that the 12th Government of Eswatini remains committed to stimulate an exponential inclusive economic growth of 12 per cent over their term of office.
investment Key drivers of the targeted growth included deliberate investment infrastructure development; ICT integrations; human capital development with significant investment on education and health; agriculture targeted to create food sovereignty; adoption of sustainable development practices; strengthening of social protectionand security; and strengthening of institutions underpinned by enhancing national security and law enforcement.

To enable agile (nkwe) implementation of the ambitious commitments, the documents states that government will invest in setting up a delivery framework for this PoA as a precursor to the development of a Grand Plan for national transformation to drive the long-term transformation of attaining a developed and First World status, a mandate from the Throne.  In this regard, it is stated that a National Transformational Council (NTC) with a secretariat will be set up as a high-level committee to drive national transformation enabled by a Transformational Management Office (TMO) as an execution/delivery unit of the NTC underpinned by agile project management approach in alignment with the nkwe mandate.

“A government Think Thank shall be set-up to drive innovation, research and development in support of the NTC and the TMO. These bodies shall be composed of representative of key sectors of our economy, including government and private sector organisations. The PPCU will continue to coordinate public policy planning, monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning,” the document states. It is mentioned that a new comprehensive, disruptive and transformational strategy coupled with a positive mindset and service excellence will be adopted by the government as an active enabler, working in close collaboration with the private sector, non-governmental organisations, and the community of Eswatini to drive meaningful and exponential transformation.

Endeavour

“Technical assistance and financial support from development partners remain a key catalyst for success. This endeavour will be characterised by establishment of quality jobs, wealth creation, curtailing of corruptions and building strong institutions facilitating efficient service delivery and transformational development in alignment with the Sibaya and NDP aspirations,” reads part of the document. Ultimately this PoA is designed to create a developed, inclusive, peaceful, most stable and economically prosperous Kingdom of Eswatini established on cultural values and affording well-being to all emaSwati under the theme, ‘Igniting Wealth and Well-being for the Nation’.

It should be noted that the PM revealed that there is an action plan to accompany the policy statement on Thursday October 17, 2024 during a sitting at the House of Assembly. This was when the MPs got an opportunity to debate the Policy Statement, which they eventually passed.Worth noting is that during the debate of the policy statement, MPs posed a variety of questions to the PM, including where government is going to secure the funding of the many projects it has detailed. hospital.

In response, the PM said the Minister for Finance, Neal Rijkenberg was going to shed more light. He also said: “What I can say is that it is not expected that the funding of the plan will all come from government. For example, we can choose to build a referral hospital, but it can also be built completely and run by the private sector to a level where we will not need to go to South Africa through the Phalala Fund. Instead of going outside the country we will have a state of the art hospital in the country. That is the innovation and change of mindset that is needed.” The MPs decried that the policy statement did not provide timelines or share much in terms of the initiatives that government will explore in order to achieve the goals it has set out.

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