UNESWA allocated largest chunk of E456m

MBABANE - The University of Eswatini (UNESWA) is one of the State-owned enterprises (SOEs) which have been allocated a large chunk of the budget.

According to the country’s budget estimates, the university was allocated E456 312 806 in the 2024/2025 financial year, which is an increase from the E446 312 806 allocated in the 2023/2024 financial year.

When looking into the reviewed SOEs, the university was followed by Siteki Good Shepherd Hospital (GSH), which received E126 772 188, an increase from the E121 611 083 received in the previous financial year.

Allocated

The Royal Science and Technology Park (RSTP) was allocated E102 128 112 from the E96 587 431 received in the previous financial year. In the estimates, the National Maize Corporation (NMC) followed, receiving E59 609 598, which is an increase from the E57 200 000 received in the previous financial year.

Another SOE which received the most subvention was the National Emergency Response Council on HIV/AIDS (NERCHA), which was subsidised with E39 375 000 and this allocation did not change in the 2024/2025 financial year.

Some of the notable SOEs which received the least share based on the analysed entities was the Eswatini Competitions Commission (ESCC), which received E8 219 179, though this reflected an increase, as they received E5 821 459 in the 2023/2024 financial year.

Sebenta National Institute received E7 494 438, an increase from the E6 388 657 received in the previous financial year. Furthermore, the Eswatini National Youth Council (ENYC) is part of the entities with the least budget, as it was allocated E5 842 766, the same amount they received in the previous allocations.

The Minister of Finance, Neal Rijkenberg when delivering the budget on Monday, said they continued to provide oversight control on the SOEs to ensure that they remained effective and efficient, as a very important sector in improving economic growth in the country. Rijkenberg said the performance of the entities was showing improvement, following the COVID-19 onslaught. He said they would continue to support these entities to ensure that they executed their mandates to the expectations of government and the nation. The minister presented an additional E150 million budgeted to increase subventions to those SOEs, that were struggling to maintain operations with their current allocations.