ƒ–‡ ‘ˆ ͶͲͲ ’ƒ”ƒ•–ƒ–ƒŽ ™‘”‡”• ›‡– –‘ „‡ †‡…‹†‡†

MANZINI – The fate of the over 400 employees who would be affected by the reforms in the six parastatals is yet to be determined.

Eswatini Economic Policy Analysis and Research Centre (ESEPARC) did a study on reforming State-owned enterprises (SOEs) in order to be trimmed from 49 to 30. Government has since commenced the reforming of six parastatals, which altogether have a staff turn-over of over 400. The Central Bank of Eswatini’s (CBE) annual report for the year ended March 31, 2021, states that there are about 289 against a 352 staff establishment. The CBE is to be reformed and merged with the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA), which has 66 employees, as per the institution’s financial report.

The study by ESEPARC found that the non-bank sector was growing faster than the bank sector, which was a source of significant risk for financial stability if it was not regulated holistically. It stated that the CBE was responsible for the overall financial stability and so the operations of the non-bank sector needed to be enshrined in the financial stability regulations under the CBE.

Regulators

“Like the other regulators charging levies on the economy, the growth in FSRA income is primarily driven by the growth in collections made through levies from various industries regulated by the FSRA. Generally, for all regulators, there is a need to rationalise the amount of levies charged against the value created by the regulation and to ensure that levies are by and large used to develop the sector they are levied on,” reads in part the study. On Friday, when announcing the implementation of the reforms, the Minister of Finance, Neal Rijkenberg, said also to be reformed was the Public Enterprises Unit (PEU).

According to the Establishment Register supporting the Estimates Expenditure for the Financial Year 2022/23, it states that there are 10 civil servants. The study also recommended the strengthening of the PEU and remodelling it into a fully-fledged and fully capacitated agency, managing and monitoring the performance of SOEs in the country.

It also suggested that a system of clear and effective incentives be designed and implemented to reward the managers and employees for improvements in efficiency, productivity and consumer satisfaction. However, it highlighted that a one-size-fits-all approach would not be effective and sustainable, particularly for the purposes of monitoring performance and tracking progression towards realisation of key performance indicators.

Facilitators

Sebenta National Institute, which is also among the first six entities to be reformed, has 28 permanent staff members and over 100 facilitators who are engaged frequently.

According to the ESEPARC report, Sebenta National Institute should be repurposed for the establishment of one non-formal education institution to coordinate skills development centres such as MITC, Mpaka and Nhlangano Vocational Centres. Until the reforms were announced, Sebenta National Institute was a project to improve adult literacy, which is now covered under the free primary education (FPE).The study reported that the institution was now deviating from its mandate and tapping into Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) skills development.

“Government must complete activities with the current cohort and close the project once the group graduates,” reads an excerpt of the ESEPARC study.