‘Self-motivating’ Swazi transport industry needs little state help

JAMES HALL MBABANE – The transportation sector needs no special help from government business-boosting schemes and appears to be a self-motivating industry, according to the Swaziland Investment Promotion Authority (SIPA). The government agency, set up to attract foreign investment into the kingdom, has released a report highlighting business opportunities worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Not one involves the transportation business, though all would depend on transporters for their success. “We find that when industries set up in Swaziland, subsidiary industries like trucking follow to fill required needs,” said Nathie Dlamini, director of Foreign Direct Investment for SIPA. Among large-scale agricultural schemes promoted by SIPA, cut flowers for export to Europe and North America and production of Swaziland’s first “wine”, fermented from indigenous buganu (marula) fruit, would depend on an expanded road transportation system and trucking firms. The SIPA report directs investors’ attention to tourist business opportunities to develop the northern mountains and the southern Jozini Dam, whose waters spill over into South Africa, without directly mentioning transportation. “But these projects won’t be built or maintained without new road transport expansion,” said Dlamini. Swaziland needs to cultivate local investors to make up for declining foreign direct investment, Prime Minister Themba Dlamini told a meeting of Swazi business people last week. “We all know that in the last few years our country has been experiencing a decline in FDI. We are also experiencing a high unemployment rate due to the closure of companies, especially foreign owned companies like the garment makers,” Dlamini said.