Japanese-funded Swazi highway opened

THE WEEK Swaziland’s King Mswati returned from Kuwait having secured a grant for a new four-lane highway, he opened the country’s new northern highway built with Japanese money. Saying he wants a “state of the art” route to Swaziland’s new international airport, now under construction in Sikhupe east of Manzini, Mswati said: “This will not be a small road. It will be a highway with four lanes that will fit the requirements of the airport and surrounding developments.” The Kuwait Fund is bankrolling the highway, whose cost was not revealed. It will connect to Manzini and Matsapha Industrial Estate. Whether or not the new airport proves viable or a bust, as some critics have said, the highway will be a boon for road transport into the east and north of the country. The 104-km hydraheaded MR5/MR6 highway Mswati dedicated last week, originating in the central Manzini region and forking at Mandlangempisi westward to Jeppe’s Reef and eastward to Mananga, cost R315m and was completed eight years after a loan was secured from the Japanese Overseas Development Agency. Japan’s ambassador to SA explained the loan. “We are of the view that the lack of necessary infrastructure in transport is seriously hindering the economic growth of Africa, thus Japan is doing our best to remove this obstacle.”