Transport sector warms Swazi's tepid economic performance

Emergency food aid boost James Hall MBABANE - If there is any good news to come out of the Central Bank of Swaziland's annual review of the country's economy, it is that the transportation sector is holding steady. The movement of goods and people actually registered a slight growth in the overall economy this past year, contributing 5,8% of the gross domestic product from 5,7% the year before. Purchases of trucks and buses to take advantage of Swaziland's widening network of highways accounted for the sector's steadiness in an overall slumping economy. GDP growth declined to 1,5% from 2,2% last year, and is less than half the 3,7% experienced in 1999. "We are happy that the transport sector is holding its own, but with the economy on the decline, freight haulers are worried we won't have goods to ship," says an executive with a Matsapha-based trucking company. Agriculture production was down on all main crops, from the country's chief export, sugar, to the Swazi staple food maize, whose scarcity has led to the current food crisis. Mining and industrial production declined this past year, and growth in tourism and construction have tapered off. Martin Dlamini, governor of the Central Bank of Swaziland, told FTW the reasons for the economy's tepid performance: "We can look at reduced agricultural production and processing, low global demand for exports as a result of global slowdown and the September 11 attacks on the US, the closure of key companies that were big employers and raw material consumers, and low rate of growth of FDI (foreign direct investment) inflows." A pick-up in business is the immediate prospect for road and rail freight firms as they are pressed into service hauling emergency food aid to drought victims. And when the economy does pick up, a strong transportation sector is in place to import raw materials and export finished products