LAND OWNERSHIP QUESTION BIG IMPEDIMENT

Madam,

As we battle to attract foreign direct investment to invigorate economic growth, there are a number of things that we need to address in order to ensure that we make our country attractive to both domestic and foreign investment. The current land tenure system needs to be revisited with a view to implementing a 99-year lease arrangement for certain classes of investments, particularly on Swazi Nation Land (SNL), where the majority of unemployed people live and where there is nearly no economic activity. This would include the agricultural towns. The land ownership question is a big impediment to any potential investor. Our country is blessed with reasonably sized rivers and all we need to do is invest in infrastructure to support irrigation systems. Most of the subsistence agricultural land stays idle for 70 per cent of the time in a year, what a waste; the sole reason for underutilising the land is lack of irrigation water! If we could utilise the land all year round, we would definitely reduce the poverty levels and unemployment rate.

System

Meanwhile, revaluating the relevance of our current education system and perhaps also put emphasis not only on academic development but also skills development, the fact that 54 years after independence, we still are not able to produce a match stick is testimony of the deficiency of the current education system. The legislation pertaining to mining needs to revisited, we need to exploit our vast mineral resources and ensure that we set up the beneficiation stream rather than being an exporter of raw material and an importer of finished goods. There are several initiatives that can drive and enhance economic growth in Eswatini on condition we get the fundamentals right. Mainland China was able to turn around its fortunes in about three decades. Much less resourced countries have shown that with dedication, clear goals and the will to achieve what you set yourselves to achieve nothing is impossible. Let us prove all critics wrong by defying the well entrenched belief that Africans fail at everything they do.

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