Africa-Press – Eswatini. Mancoba Khumalo,the eSwatini Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade says the Kingdom aims to increase mining contribution to the country’s Gross Domestic Product(GDP) to enhance fiscal stability.
In economic terms, fiscal stability refers to the condition where Government’s finances are managed in a way that ensures long-term sustainability and this, involves maintaining a balance between Government revenue and expenditure, avoiding excessive debt accumulation, and managing economic cycles to prevent crises.
The Commerce Minister addressed the recent United Nations(UN) Fourth International Conference on Financing and Development held in Seville-Spain, he described eSwatini as a country with a huge potential to turning challenges into opportunities, fostering partnerships and innovation.
“To diversify our economy and boost export growth, Eswatini is aggressively pursuing the development of our mining sector. We have launched a strategic initiative to exploit available mineral resources, including coal, gold, and quarry stone, with a focus on sustainable extraction and export-oriented processing.By 2030, we aim to increase mining’s contribution to GDP substantially through targeted investments in modern mining technologies, streamlined licensing processes to attract foreign investors, and partnerships to develop value-added processing facilities”, he said.
On another note, the Commerce, Industry and Trade Minister emphasized the significance of Public-Private Partnerships(PPPs) in fostering economic growth and development.
“In Eswatini, we have seen success in PPPs for renewable energy projects, attracting private investment to complement public funds.We are now extending this model to our mining sector, offering incentives to private partners to develop processing plants and export infrastructure.We urge development partners and financial institutions to prioritize LLDC-specific financing, recognizing that investments in our infrastructure are investments in global stability and prosperity.The digital divide further compounds our challenges. In Eswatini, only 30% of our population has reliable internet access.Bridging this gap through investments in digital infrastructure and skills training for our youth is critical to fostering innovation and entrepreneurship, creating jobs without fostering competition among LLDCs,” he said.
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