MBABANE – Eswatini has recorded a 215 per cent increase in foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2024.
This is at least according to newly released Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Investment Report 2025, signalling one of the strongest annual rebounds among the bloc’s smaller economies.
The report shows that after plunging to over E250.8 million (US$15 million) in 2023, Eswatini’s FDI inflows surged to over E1.5 billion (US$93 million) in 2024 – its fastest growth rate in recent years.
This sharp rebound places Eswatini among the better-performing smaller economies within COMESA, during a year characterised by shifting global financial conditions and renewed investor interest in the region.
Although the 2024 growth figure stands out, the broader trend across 2015–2024 reveals significant volatility in Eswatini’s FDI performance.
The country received E693.9 million (US$41 million) in 2015, followed by over E355.5 million (US$21 million) in 2016. Inflows rose to E947.8 million (US$56 million) in 2018 and stood at E609.3 million (US$36 million) in 2019.
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… COMESA achieves record growth in 2024
MBABANE – Eswatini’s performance comes against the backdrop of a record-breaking year for the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).
The region attracted E1.1 trillion (US$65 billion) in FDI in 2024, representing a 154 per cent increase from the previous year and marking its highest inflow levels in two decades.
Although this performance was significantly boosted by a major development project in Egypt, the region still posted solid growth even when the effect of this outlier project is removed.
The COMESA Investment Report notes that Egypt, Ethiopia, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Kenya collectively accounted for 90 per cent of all inflows in 2024.
While Eswatini is outside this group of top performers, its strong year-on-year percentage increase reflects improving investor sentiment and potential shifts in the country’s investment landscape.
The report further reviews greenfield investment announcements – commitments that signal future capital inflows.
While Eswatini did not feature much in new greenfield announcements in 2024, the region as a whole attracted E1.3 trillion (US$77.1 billion) in such investments, marking a 7 per cent increase from the previous year.
Most of these announcements were concentrated in larger economies with diverse industrial bases.
For Eswatini, the absence of large-scale industrial or infrastructure proposals reflects the country’s smaller private-sector footprint and the limited number of mega-projects capable of attracting high-value commitments.
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171 investment-related policy measures adopted
MBABANE – The COMESA report highlights that 20 member States adopted 171 investment-related policy measures between 2015 and 2024.
The majority of them where designed to improve investment facilitation and expand incentives for investors.
Eswatini is listed among the member States that implemented investment-related reforms during this period, although the report does not assign specific measures to individual countries.
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