General

LOBAMBA – For the continent of Africa to flourish, it should not make guns a solution to challenges.

This was revealed by His Majesty King Mswati III, as he shared that Agenda 2063 was among the items of discussion at the 80^th United Nations General Assembly.

Agenda 2063’s ‘Silencing the Guns’ initiative is a flagship project aimed at achieving a peaceful, stable and integrated Africa by ending wars and violent conflicts on the continent. The King revealed that there are currently wars in the continent that were claiming the lives of children and women, among others and also leaving a trail of destruction on infrastructure.

He revealed that African countries were encouraged to find ways to end the conflicts without the use of guns.  The King also touched on the issue of coups, stating that there is no such thing as a popular coup and no one should make an excuse for carrying out a coup.

“There was a lot of discussion around this issue and the consensus was that African countries should work collaboratively and find lasting solutions to their challenges rather than resorting to wars and conflicts,” he said. 

Also highlighted by the King was that the country was able to make agreements with other countries, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on how the two nations can enhance each other in development. He said one area of opportunity for development is technology and a princess representing the UAE, also a patron of women in this sector, shared the opportunities that can be explored in this sector. 

He also mentioned that they met businesspeople from different countries representing different companies and they shared their keen interest in coming to invest in the country.  Such companies include Starlink, which is owned by United States of America Billionaire, Elon Musk and it already has footprints in the country.

Starlink is a satellite internet service owned and developed by SpaceX, a company founded by Musk, that provides high-speed internet access globally using a large constellation of satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO).

More details can be found on page 6 of our publication.

Some of the people who came to welcome His Majesty King Mswati III back from New York, in song at the King Mswati III International Airport yesterday. (Pic: Sabelo Majola)