DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA – His Majesty King Mswati III has urged SADC leaders to ensure that smaller landlocked Member States are fully integrated into the North–South Economic Corridor.
Speaking during discussion of Agenda Item 5 on the implementation of the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) at the 46th SADC Summit in Durban, His Majesty supported the prioritisation of the corridor as a pilot for transforming regional transport routes into fully integrated economic corridors.
He stressed that the corridor must extend beyond its principal geographical spine through strategic feeder routes connecting Eswatini and Lesotho.
This would prevent smaller landlocked countries from remaining on the periphery of regional infrastructure, trade and industrial development.
His Majesty highlighted the Ngwenya–Oshoek Border Gate as Eswatini’s principal commercial gateway to South Africa and the wider regional market.
It handles a significant share of the kingdom’s imports and exports and serves as a critical link for businesses, commuters, tourism and regional supply chains.
Its efficiency, he said, directly affects the cost and competitiveness of trade in Eswatini.
The border post is also strategically important to the south-eastern part of the SADC sub-region.
Together with the Carolina–Oshoek/Ngwenya Road and connecting routes through Eswatini to Mozambique, it links South Africa’s industrial and commercial centres with Eswatini’s productive sectors and the ports and markets of Mozambique.
Strengthening this route would improve east–west connectivity while complementing the main north–south transport spine.
His Majesty proposed that the relevant decision direct the SADC Secretariat to consult Eswatini and Lesotho and incorporate these extensions into the corridor’s governance arrangements, detailed investment plan and resource-mobilisation programme.
This should include the upgrading of the Carolina – Oshoek/Ngwenya Road, modernisation and expansion of the Ngwenya–Oshoek Border Gate, improved border-management systems, stronger road and rail connections through Eswatini to Mozambique, adding that comparable strategic connections should be identified for Lesotho.
The King also addressed the importance of rail infrastructure and the strategic oil reserve currently under construction in Eswatini, emphasising their role in enhancing the kingdom’s contribution to regional energy security, trade facilitation and economic resilience within the broader corridor framework.
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