Africa-Press – Eswatini. Pursuant to the formation of a new Cabinet, I believe, to all the newly-appointed ministers, congratulations are in order. Also, let me commend the prime minister (PM) on the appointment of a lady deputy prime minister. It is important that we shutter glass ceilings as a nation and this is a step in the positive direction. We remain hopeful that the next PM shall be a woman. If words were permitting, I would have given my thoughts on all the newly-appointed ministers, however, I will focus on the ministers of the economy viz, Finance, Commerce Industry and Trade, Economic Planning, Agriculture and Natural Resources and Energy.
Finance
I will say the heavens have smiled upon us as a nation; a second term will allow the minister to continue the work he began in the previous Cabinet. It is imperative that the nation is set on a sustainable fiscal path and this requires improved accountability in the budgeting system and the oversight functions of government need to be executed vividly. I recommend that in this current Cabinet, we need to move for the establishment of the office of a public protector. This can be done through increasing the scope of the Anti-Corruption Commission or setting up an independent office. The country loses millions in corruption a month; sustainability requires deliberate action towards solving this problem. As work continues to set the economy on the growth path, I hope there will be a change of strategy this term; can we have increased and direct funding for programmes targeting the youth and the most vulnerable emaSwati. Cash flow problems continue to bug the government machinery; may we see improvements in the budgetary process and the alignment of expenditures with cash inflow. This will improve business confidence in fiscal expenditures and this will bolster confidence in the economy.
Commerce, Industry and Trade
We need an economy that creates jobs for our people, emaSwati need jobs and it is commerce that is responsible for job creation. We need to change techniques a bit and strike a balance between creating jobs for low skilled personnel and the mass of graduates who are in the unemployment pool. It is important that we do an analysis of all the data we have gathered over the years, so that we identify a competitive advantage as a country. We need to go beyond local borders and identify industries we can tap into and sell a competitive advantage. Commerce is drawn into an area if they will have a competitive advantage; I do not think we have identified that as a country and hence we are not realising much investment inflow from the international trade expos we attend.
We need the private sector to lead growth and in the past five years, we have invested so much in a private sector-led growth, however, most of the numbers are still not showing signs of a private sector that is ready to lead growth. It is imperative that constraints to private sector-led growth are identified and systematically improved. Also, we need to improve on incubation and nurturing domestic industries to grow to the level they can sustain themselves and lead growth in the economy. The minister needs to push forward with import substitution and promote buying locally to help grow local companies.
Economic Planning
The main problem that we have grappled with as a country is that of cost over-runs. It is imperative that the minister of Economic Planning arrests the problem of cost over-runs as an issue of urgency. The ministry needs to improve its planning capabilities. Projects need to be commissioned only when fully financed and performance contracts need to be introduced, this will protect both the supplier and government, resulting in savings within the government machinery. If a contractor fails to complete a project in time, they need to be punished instead of being rewarded with inflated contracts.
Agriculture
Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy; it is one of the sectors that we have not fully explored as a country. It is imperative that we focus on the commercialisation of agriculture to improve grain output in the country. Agriculture is a profitable venture if done in scale. We need the current Cabinet to facilitate the utilisation of government farms that are lying fallow. There is also a need to address supply side constraints, the costs of inputs are sky-rocketing, necessitating a need for government intervention.
Natural Resources and Energy
Energy is an issue of urgency, we are fast approaching 2025 and we might be in the dark and this will have detrimental effects on commerce, industry and trade. We have not taken any strides as a country to improve energy sufficiency. We can learn from Botswana and Zambia; in less than five years these countries achieved energy sufficiency, with excess of peak capacity to sell to neighbours. We have been clinging on hope that South Africa (SA) will continue supplying us with energy, however, I fear it has since become a political item for the 2024 elections in SA. Also, we need to establish the fuel reserve plant.
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