Speech from the Throne investor-focused – S’thofeni

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MBABANE – African Alliance Partner S’thofeni Ginindza has described the Speech from the Throne by His Majesty King Mswati III as investor-focused.

Ginindza said the country was coming from a COVID-19 pandemic period along with the civil unrest, but pointed out that the kingdom was now in a better position economically compared to the already mentioned period.

The King’s speech, which he delivered last Friday when officially opening the first session of the 12th Parliament, was widely praised. Politicians, including Members of Parliament (MPs), ministers and the general public joined hands in commending the King’s speech, which they observed, touched on all sectors of the country’s economy.

“My reaction is that we finally got the vision from His Majesty and he is very clear, he is very investor focused. I think we are coming from the COVID-19 and unrest situations but where we are now is better than the previous years. The King is saying let us gain the momentum,” Ginindza said.

The respected businessman stated that as an economist, when the growth of country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is 0.5 per cent, what is underneath the GDP like manufacturing and plants would kill the economy. GDP is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced in a specific period by a country or countries. GDP is most often used by the government of a single country to measure its economic health.

Specific

It represents the value of all goods and services produced over a specific period within a country’s borders. Economists can use GDP to determine whether an economy is growing or experiencing a recession.

“So, if you are growing at 4.9 percent, then it means the sectors below are working diligently, which means employment will be there because GDP reflects growth of the underlying sectors. That’s why when you talk about 4.9 per cent GDP growth; you have to know where the sectors are coming from. Is it agriculture, tourism and once you establish that, the money comes back to the economy,” he said.

Secondly, Ginindza said the King spoke on SACU (Southern African Customs Union) receipts. SACU, established in 1910, consists of Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Eswatini. It was established in 1910, making it the world’s oldest customs union, and domestic taxes.

“When money flows back better than before, it means money to the pockets of the people. When people have money in their pockets, it means they will spend and when they do that, it drives the economy as you will still get taxes again,” Ginindza said.

Worth noting is that Eswatini’s public sector budget remains heavily dependent on revenues from the SACU customs pool. This is because SACU revenues account for more than two thirds of total government revenue. The bulk of the revenue originates from import duties levied on imports into SACU (primarily South Africa).

Addressing guests during the official opening of the 8th Summit of SACU Heads of State and Government held at Mandvulo Grand Hall (Lozitha) in June last year, His Majesty emphasised on the major role played by SACU in the development of member countries. This gathering was attended by the likes of South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa, Lesotho Prime Minister Samuel Ntsokoane Matekane and his Namibian counterpart Saara Kuugongelwa, among others.

Immensely

“We are pleased that we are currently experiencing positive development in the collection of SACU receipts, which will contribute immensely to the social and economic development of our countries. As Eswatini, we are happy that during our chairmanship, all member states realised a windfall, in our SACU receipts. We need to maintain these positive results and standards to increase the returns even more,” the King said.

At the time, the King highlighted that the country’s receipts increased by a significant share of 102 per cent when compared to the previous year, pointing out that this was the first time seeing such high returns. “Significant share of 102 per cent when compared to contributing to this positive growth was the higher than projected outturn of the 2021/2022 common revenue pool (CRP), together with the 25 per cent increase in the projected size of the CRP for 2023/2024 compared to 2022/2023 financial year.”

His Majesty also pointed out that the increase in Eswatini’s share of total Intra-SACU imports from 9.6 per cent in the revenue sharing framework for 2022/2023 to 10.8 per cent in 2023/2024 was also a contributing factor, stating that: “Indeed, the measures that our Ministry of Finance has been implementing in order to enhance intra-SACU imports have started paying off.’’