Times Of Swaziland: ESWATINI FALLS ONE PLACE IN GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS INDEX

ESWATINI FALLS ONE PLACE IN GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS INDEX
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BY STANLEY KHUMALO on 09/10/2019 00:39:00


MBABANE - Eswatini has been ranked the 121st most competitive economy in the
world, on the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Competitiveness Index 2019.
This was out of 141 countries that participated. This statistic depicts a
decline by one position from last year’s rank - where the country stood at
position 120 out of 140 countries.
The Global Competitive Index measures competitiveness of an economy by
considering 12 factors that would determine the level of productivity in a
country, including institutions, infrastructure, macroeconomic environment,
health, education, labour market efficiency, financial market development,
technological readiness, market size and innovation.
Business Eswatini administers the survey in the country on behalf of the World
Economic Forum.
According to the Chief Executive Officer of Business Eswatini, Nathi Dlamini,
the decline in the rankings was a huge concern to the private sector, as it
speaks volumes to the country’s competitiveness on the global stage.
Retaining
“It also does not bode well for our efforts of attracting and retaining much
needed Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) projects.
“Eswatini has been experiencing a steady inflation rate over the years,
however, the rising public debt coupled with diminishing reserves has somewhat
elevated concerns about the macroeconomic stability of the country,” Dlamini
said.
Among other concerns, he said, was the cost of mobile data and services which
remained one of the highest in the region.
The CEO said this resulted in low mobile and broadband penetration rates,
comparatively speaking; hence the country had been ranked 119 under the pillar
of ICT adoption, and 134 under innovation capability, which was closely linked
to a thriving ICT sector.
“With the advent of the launch of the ePlatform, which most definitely will
require massive amounts of bandwidth, the issue of data packages has just become
extremely urgent.”
He said with an estimated life expectancy of 51.3, the country was among the
worst performing countries on this pillar, being ranked 139 out of 141, for a
second consecutive year.
This, according to Dlamini, was a dire indictment on the state of the
country’s unequal access to good healthcare combined with a deteriorating
health care system.
Aware
“However, we are aware that government has taken this as a priority concern.
Business Eswatini will continue to engage with policy makers on identifying
quick wins that will improve the business enabling environment and allow the
private sector to lead the economic recovery as envisaged in the Government
Strategic Road map.”
The Eswatini Strategic Road map seeks to make the private sector a thriving
partner in rejuvenating the country’s economy.
Among many things it seeks to implement private public partnerships (PPP).