Rising roadfreight volumes signal Swazi upswing

JAMES HALL MBABANE – Road freight operators are reporting a booming year’s end, with trade rising above the levels of recent years. If a nation’s transportation sector is said to be the barometer of national economic performance, Swaziland may be seeing an improvement in its long-moribund economy. “Business has really picked up. It’s remarkable,” said Mark Svenningsen, director of Express Cargo, located at Swaziland’s main industrial park at Matsapha, outside Manzini. “We expect business to continue strong through year’s end,” said Willie Stuart, owner of Speedy Overborder. Road freight operators in Swaziland traditionally report brisk business during any year’s final months, dropping dramatically in January. But transport company owners in Matsapha and Mbabane are predicting a continuation of good business through February 2006 and perhaps longer. All companies report operations normal or busier compared to last year, with only one saying business has fallen off. Two new road freight firms have opened at Matsapha in recent months. There is no agreement on why transport volume is increasing, but one explanation suggests success on government’s part at introducing new enterprises in the country to offset the economy’s reliance on the garment industry, which has slumped badly since 2002 because of the rand’s strength and competition from cheap Chinese exports. The Ministry of Finance told FTW it did not track the transport sector’s performance on a month to month basis, but said any upswing in activity would signal better performance in other sectors that rely on road and rail freight transport.