Times Of Swaziland: ESWATINI NOT IN TOP 10

ESWATINI NOT IN TOP 10
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BY ASHMOND NZIMA on 23/09/2021 08:12:00


MBABANE – The country has not been listed among most attractive investment
destinations in the continent, according to the Where to Invest in Africa 2021
report from Rand Merchant Bank (RMB).
RMB, a division of FirstRand Bank Limited, is said to be the leading African
corporate and investment bank and part of one of the largest financial services
groups in Africa. According to the report shared BusinessTech, it shows that
Egypt is by Africa’s top investment destination with Morocco following in
second place. Rounding up the top five are Rwanda and Botswana in fourth and
fifth positions respectively. South Africa is third. In essence, only two of
Eswatini’s Southern African Customs Union (SACU) counterparts are in the top
10. These are Botswana and South Africa. Other SACU members are Lesotho and
Namibia.
A  request was forwarded to RMB to ascertain Eswatini’s ranking but the
response was that the report was currently only available to clients. RMB Africa
economist Daniel Kavishe was quoted saying, the 2021 report assessed the extent
of the pandemic’s impact by sketching Africa’s landscape before COVID-19 and
then painted a picture of both its actual and potential outcomes through and
post pandemic. The pandemic has muddied the analytical waters and compelled the
team to adapt their methodology.
Kavishe said, “We created a new set of rankings that incorporated some of the
unavoidable COVID-19-induced challenges, of which the operating environment
score was one”.
A fiscal score which was a part of the methodology are important indicators of
how governments respond to COVID-19. The report also explored key themes
emanating from Africa’s developmental aspirations which are government
intervention, a focus on triple-threat sectors and healthcare. “The inclusion
of a fiscal score in our rankings aimed to score governments’ fiscal positions
and provided a basis from which investors can understand specific
jurisdictions,” Kavishe said. Meanwhile, after the violent protests that
tainted the country’s image late in June this year, Minister of Commerce,
Industry and Trade Manqoba Khumalo, in a statement, emphasised that Eswatini was
still a competitive investment destination in Southern Africa, offering a
gateway to the rest of Africa and the world. This is through its good road
network, trustworthy rail infrastructure and trade agreements within regional
and international trade bodies. “Our labour force is still among the most
educated in the region and our provision of electricity supply and other raw
materials required to keep business going such as water, operating facilities
and regulatory support remain reliable,” the minister had stressed.