SWAZILAND AND HER QUEST FOR FIRST WORLD STATUS

Sir,

His Majesty King Mswati III had a vision of seeing Swaziland become a First World nation by 2022. The King’s vision and his aspirations for the country to transform to such a status should not be undermined. As a nation we all have to embrace this vision so that it becomes a reality.

As citizens of this country, together with our government, our attention should not be distracted by apathy, ignorance and laziness from the current true dire situation in Swaziland and we should not be misled about the prospects of achieving First World Status.

For Swaziland to be seen well on the road towards the First World Status, we still need to improve more is such aspects as human capital, economic, political, psychological, human development index, technologically, infrastructure and human welfare. We still need to work on the issue of international affairs. The status of our international relations is regressing as Swaziland is seen to be adopting an orientation of isolation from the international system.

The uncertainly of Swaziland’s prosperity and future is included in all these aspects, whose status we need to improve so that as a nation we can have a clear direction of where we are heading. As a nation we have to be very clear what it means to be a First World nation and what it takes to get there. We are left with eight years before His Majesty’s vision becomes a reality and our aspiration as a nation to become a First World nation is already being threatened by perverse criticism in the international media.
As a nation we have to cooperate and become part of the international system and have a romantic approach to international politics so that we can wield influence and gain confidence to achieve our goal. According to my understanding, the concept of First World nation is a little outdated. During the time of the Cold War following the Second World War the First World nations were considered to be those that supported the United States against the Soviet Union and the communist bloc.

In the past 20 years or so, since the fall of the Soviet Union, the term ‘First World’ has begun to fall into disuse. As a Swazi nation and as a nation that aspires to live in the modern world, we ought to accept the fact that there are many modern-day definitions of ‘first world’. A nation must be a multiparty democracy and the people must be able to elect and dismiss their government.

First World Status cannot be achieved without a movement towards democracy and if we want His Majesty’s vision to be a reality we must allow this to happen and the government should not continue to keep a firm grip on any public dissent in the country.
Another definition of First World speaks to prosperity and the health of the nation’s economy. But as Swazis we do not have to deny the fact that we are not yet close to becoming prosperous. In 2012, a report published by 24/7 Wall Street in the United States and based on data from the World Bank, IMF and the United Nation identifies our nation as one of the top 20 poorest countries in the entire world.

We were also ranked according to the Index of Economic Freedom. We are still in the lowest category of economic freedom which is a crucial component of liberty that empowers people to work, produce, consume own trade and invest according to their personal choice. Our real GDP growth has been fluctuating between 1.2 per cent (2009) and 2.7 per cent (2012) and our GDP (PPP) which is the share of the world has been constant at 0.01 per cent from 1998 – 2012 without growing.

 It is said 69 per cent of Swazis live in poverty. As a nation we have to ask ourselves these questions, since 2012 when that data was disclosed placing us on that rank up to now 2014, how well have we improved in all aspects? How well have we learned from our previous challenges and mistakes? And how well have we applied what we have learned to improve the situation within the 2012-2014 bracket?

If we can strike the correct analysis and see by what rate we have improved within these two years, then considering that we will be increasing the rate of improvement from now 2014-2022, we can be able to predict whether as a nation we are moving towards meeting our target or not.
Our country’s workforce is largely concentrated in subsistence agriculture even though we face serious concerns about overgrazing and soil depletion. While these factors harm our nation’s economy, health concerns are likely one of the major factors preventing our population from escaping poverty.

Fewer countries have a lower life expectancy at birth than our country where the average person is expected to live just 48 years. One of the reasons for such a low life expectancy is the high prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS among those 15-49 at 25.9 per cent which is almost the highest in the world. If, as a nation, we are really desperate and anxious to make His Majesty King Mswati III, the Ingwenyama’s vision a reality we have to address all these situations from grassroots level up to the highest point of government and leadership.

Nkosinathi Peter Shiba

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