The Government of
Swaziland, an impoverished African nation with no coastline, has backed a plan to build a shipping port which will cost an estimated US$3 billion.
The scheme follows the
completion of an ‘international’ airport, built in a wilderness that cost an
estimated US$250 million to construct. Fewer than 150 passengers fly out of the King Mswati III Airport at Sikhuphe
on any given day.
Swaziland is ruled by
King Mswati who is sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch. Political
parties are banned from taking part in elections and the King appoints members
of the government.
The airport, dubbed a ‘vanity project’ by aviation experts and the port are part of the King’s effort to turn
his kingdom into a ‘First World’ nation by 2022.
At present, seven in ten
of the 1.3 million population live in abject poverty with incomes of less than
US$2 per day. Swaziland has the highest rate of HIV infection in the world and
this year it is estimated that at least one-third of the population will need
international food aid to avoid starvation.
Meanwhile, the King has
13 palaces, a private jet aircraft and fleets of BMW and Mercedes cars, which
he shares with his 14 wives and vast royal family.
The plan is to build a 26-kilometre canal from the Mozambican sea to Mlawula, where the port
will be constructed on 15 to 20 hectares of land.
Media in Swaziland report
it will cost an estimated E30 billion (US$3 billion).The Times of Swaziland, the only independent daily newspaper in the
kingdom where most news media are censored, reported the plan was confirmed by Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade Gideon
Dlamini.
The Times reported him saying, ‘At government level, we are fully
behind the project and we are giving it undivided support. The project owners
had done presentations to Cabinet and we interrogated it and found that it is a
wonderful one. Following Cabinet’s realisation that the project is good and
viable, Prime Minister [Barnabas] Sibusiso Dlamini then tasked the different
concerned ministries to start working together with the project owners straight
away.’
The ministries involved
are the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Ministry of
Public Works and Transport, Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade, Ministry
of Tourism and Environmental Affairs and the Ministry of Housing and Urban
Development.
The plan is headed by
Moses Motsa, who is often described in the Swazi and South African media as a
‘billionaire’, but it is not clear in which currency he holds his billion.
The Times reported, ‘Dlamini went on to say that each of the
ministries had been given specific responsibilities that are in support of
business magnate Moses Motsa and his partners. One of the most critical issues
that the business proprietors need to be assisted in is having an agreement
with the Mozambican Government as the port will be established through a canal
coming from the Indian Ocean from the Republic of Mozambique.
‘In this regard, Dlamini
said, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation was
assigned by the PM to engage with Mozambique with the aim of reaching an
agreement over accessing the sea.’
The Times reported Motsa saying the port would harbour big vessels and with
docking for up to four ships at once.
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