While Swaziland and Indian political leaders engage in mutual
back-slapping about the amount of investment India is
making in the undemocratic kingdom, we ought to remember what happened to a
past promise.
In 2015, King Mswati III, who rules Swaziland as
sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, visited India to drum up investment
in his impoverished kingdom.
A year later he was credited with bringing an
Indian-based company JSW Energy to Swaziland in an E7 billion (US$500 million)
deal to build a thermal power plant. It was intended to generate enough electricity
to supply all Swaziland’s needs and have some left over
to export. In less than two years the deal was in tatters.
The Swazi
Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by the King, reported on 22 October
2016, ‘The fruits of His Majesty King Mswati III’s visit to India just about
the same time last year is bearing fruits as JSW Energy Limited, a subsidiary
of the JSW group of companies, has brought good news to the country.’
It went on to report the signing of a Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) between JSW and the parastatal Swaziland Electricity
Company (SEC). The deal was for JSW to build a thermal power station that would
use Swaziland coal.
Swaziland’s Prime Minister Barnabas Dlamini who signed
the MOU said, ‘It is an MOU which, when the subsequent agreements are
operationalised, will perhaps rank as the catalyst in the future economic
development of our country.’
The PM, who was not elected to his office but personally
appointed by the King, went on to praise King Mswati for exploring the
possibility of investor interest in constructing the power station.
After the flurry of publicity, nothing much happened.
Less than two years later in March 2018, it was admitted the project was dead
in the water. The Observer on Saturday
reported (31 March 2018) that the MOU had ‘elapsed with no progress being
made’.
It quoted Winnie Stewart, the Principal Secretary at
the Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy, saying the feasibility study on
the project that was supposed to be done was not finalised during the life of
the MOU. Stewart said government had told SEC to complete the study and then it
would put the project out to tender.
During his visit to Swaziland in April 2018, Indian
President Shri Ram Nath Kovind confirmed a number of loans running
into tens of millions of US dollars his country would make available to
Swaziland. He also made a donation of US1 million toward feeding starving
children in Swaziland. King Mswati then threw the President a banquet.
Richard
Rooney
See also
KING ‘TOOK 100 SERVANTS' ON INDIA TRIP
KING’S PAPER ACCUSES MEDIA OF LIES
https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/kings-paper-accuses-media-of-lies.html
No comments:
Post a Comment