Africa-Press – Eswatini. Prime Minister, Russell Dlamini, has challenged State owned enterprises to come up with self-sustaining projects that will see them stop relying on government subvention.
The premier, during a meeting with SOEs board chairpersons and chief executive officers, expressed concern that some of the enterprises still relied on government subvention when they should instead be making money themselves.
Currently, there are over 50 SOEs in the country.
Dlamini said government was continuously faced with some fiscal challenges and challenged the executives to think outside the box to ensure that those entities remained sustainable.
He urged the executives to roll up their sleeves to attract and encourage investment in the country.
Concepts
This, he said, would be possible if they formulated solid strategies and viable concepts which would in turn grow the economy.
The premier also urged the executives to do away with reductionist mentality, which sought to take away money out of the economy instead of injecting more into it to stimulate growth.
He said this could be possible if government led through SOEs as the notion that government should be on standby, watch and provide a conducive environment has not worked anywhere in the world for developing countries.
“His Majesty King Mswati III graciously convened Sibaya last year where Emaswati expressed their views on how the country’s development could be expedited. A number of issues were raised during the Sibaya submissions and these need government, working with State-owned entities, to urgently address them.
“These include, among others, calls for improved service delivery, support for business start-ups for our youth, job creation, and deliberately moving away from poverty to wealth creation and many more.
Scourge
“It is therefore my request that you align your strategies to these submissions,” said the premier.
He further called on the executives to also join hands with government in fighting the scourge of corruption, in all its forms.
“As you lead your organisations, you must make sure that you lead with excellence and a high level of integrity.”
Dlamini also urged them to collaborate with the private sector as well as government ministries and to be conscious of their founding mandate and reflect it. With this, he averred that if the SOEs failed to deliver their mandate, it would mean they had outlived their purpose and there was no reason why government should pump in funds to that particular entity.
The premier further said what was worse was that some of the enterprises returned to ask for more funds whereas the executives were paid far more than the employees, urging them to do away with inequality.
Dlamini said this was a problem the country was faced with as executives were paid exorbitant salaries while junior staff was paid meagre salaries, adding that with every major and cost of living adjustment, the gap also continued to increase.
He hoped that following salary reviews they would adjust this gap and not seek to increase salaries for executives.
“We must hold on to the increase of the cap in salaries. We need redistribution,” said the premier.
Eswatini Civil Aviation Authority Director General Andile Mtetwa-Amaeshi said there was a need for collaboration between SOEs as at present, they were disconnected.
Unison
She shared that currently, the aviation industry did not export anything by air, adding that government could achieve economic growth if certain entities worked in unison sort of like a thread to efficiently deliver on their mandates.
Eswatini Public Enterprises Association (ESPEA) Chairman, Dumisani Msibi, suggested that annual board evaluations processes must be put in place in order to ensure effectiveness of boards.
Msibi further said there should be timely appointments or replacements of board members as some organisations operated without a board for several months.
ESPEA is a collective unregistered network of CEOs of public enterprises set up to share ideas on how to better execute their mandates and support government service delivery.
Government needs great ideas, not just dreams
The above statement was pronounced by Prime Minister, Russell Dlamini, as he challenged captains of industry to develop concepts of high value in any discipline that government could adopt, support, sell or finance.
“I am referring to ambitious and viable projects worth more than a billion Emalangeni. Government will work with you to secure finance and ensure that they see the light of the day. I am asking you to go and formulate concepts of business ventures that can create jobs and make the lives of every Liswati better. This is the route to His Majesty’s vision, of being a developed state. We must create jobs and focus on creating wealth for the people,” he remarked.
Dlamini added that there were perceptions now that all SOEs did was to rent or build fancy offices, furniture, cars and then earn hefty salaries. He urged them to work hard to change this perception so as to realise dividends made being remitted to government, which in turn would benefit the nation.
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