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10 COMPANIES TO BRING 9 750 JOBS

31/03/2023 08:32:00 Stanley Khumalo

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MATSAPHA – About 9 750 jobs are in the pipeline, as there are 10 companies that require a total of 61 500m² for their projects in the country.

This was said by Prime Minister (PM) Cleopas Sipho Dlamini, at the end of his tour of key post COVID-19 Economic Recovery Plan Investment Projects in Matsapha Industrial Site. The premier, with the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade, Manqoba Khumalo, senior government personnel and some legislators, toured three infrastructure development projects in Matsapha. The infrastructures included Eswatini Oil Mill Expansion Project, the Conco Limited Warehouse Expansion Project and the Matsapha Lifestyle Centre Project.

Development

The premier in his remarks, said government must prioritise the development of the Sidvokodvo Industrial Estate, as Matsapha Industrial Site was quickly running out of space for new industries. The PM said: “I have been informed that in our projects pipeline, there are 10 companies that require a total of 61 500m² and these companies would create about 9 750 jobs. If we had that space, about 10 000 emaSwati would be employed, who would, in turn positively impact their communities.” He said Sidvokodvo would decongest Matsapha, create new investment opportunities, lighten the shortage of industrial land for investors and improve lives, as emaSwati would get employed.

Dlamini said these investment projects were worth a combined E850 million and had created about 895 jobs during construction. He said these projects were being implemented under the post COVID-19 Economic Recovery Plan by the private sector, with the support of government.
These investment projects, he said, were worth a combined E850 million and had created about 895 jobs during construction. The premier said the expected number of permanent jobs that would be created after the implementation of these projects was more than 900, excluding jobs that would be created as a result of spill-over activities.

“Although we visited only a few of these projects, we are aware that there are many more such projects dispersed across other parts of the country. This should then give you an indication on the trajectory of our economic recovery prospects as a country.” He said as highlighted by His Majesty King Mswati III in his Speech from the Throne, during the opening of Parliament recently, Eswatini’s economy grew by 7.4 per cent last year and had been the fastest growing economy in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region over the last two years.

Dlamini highlighted that this growth was underpinned by an impressed growth of 16.1 per cent in manufacturing and an eight per cent growth in the retail sector. “Of the E850 million investments, E100 million is a new investment and more than E750 million is business expansion of existing investments. We are aware of ongoing reinvestment plans in many other firms around the country as captured in the recently issued update report by EIPA (Eswatini Investment Promotion Authority) and ESEPARC (Eswatini Economic Policy Analysis and Research Centre).”