INVESTMENT IN OFFICE PARKS NOW A BIG NO!

MBABANE – The once lucrative property industry (office parks) is going to the dogs if not there already.

Contributing to the collapsing of the industry is mostly government-owned companies. Instead of investing their money somewhere, some of these companies decided to build their own offices.
Through this, they have disadvantaged the private investors as well as some of the public ones. The increasing trend of constructing offices has left some property investors regretting their decision to invest in the construction of offices, more so because some of the office parks are left unoccupied after the certain companies evacuate them to move into their own offices.

This then compel them to lower their rates per square metre of space; resulting into the loss of profit.
A practical example was when Swazi MTN evacuated the Rhus Office Park after completing its head offices in Ezulwini, christened by His Majesty the King as Mahlalekhukhwini House.
The Swaziland Royal Insurance Corporation (SRIC) is the latest casualty after the United Nations (UN) agencies moved to their offices at Eveni, Mbabane. Rubbing salt onto the wound was the completion of the Sincephetelo Motor Vehicle Accident Fund (SMVA) Building. SMVA employees had to move from the Lilunga House owned by SRIC to their own recently completed state of the art building.

More woes are brought by the fact that foreign envoys are also looking at investing in building their own offices. The US Embassy completed its multi million structure in Ezulwini and it had to leave the offices at Kent Rock. Before it went to Kent Rock, the US Embassy occupied some offices at the Embassy House.
Other foreign envoys who are in the process of constructing their office parks are Qatar and Turkey. Currently, the Qatar Embassy is housed at the Royal Villas.

Obviously, the Tibiyo TakaNgwane will lose one stream of revenue in the Qatar Government.
Companies, embassies or NGOs that have constructed or in the process of constructing their own offices include but not limited to Swaziland National Provident Fund (SNPF), Public Service Pension Fund (PSPF), Swaziland Sugar Association (SSA), Sincephetelo Motor Vehicle Accident Fund (SMVA), SwaziBank, Swaziland Building Society (SBS), Tibiyo TakaNgwane , Tisuka TakaNgwane, Swaziland Water Services Corporation (SWSC), Small Enterprise Development Company (SEDCO), Swaziland Electricity Company (SEC), Swaziland Revenue Authority (SRA) - (underway), Swaziland Post and Telecommunications (SPTC), Swazi Mobile, Swazi MTN, Swaziland National Development Corporation (FINCORP) (underway), US Embassy, Qatar Embassy (underway), Turkey Embassy (underway), United Nations (UN) Agencies, Swaziland Dairy Board and Swaziland Royal Insurance Corporation (SRIC).

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