… With 2021 GDP Growth of 7.43 per cent
BY PHUMELELE MKHONTA
MBABANE– Resilient and fast growing!
This is the country’s economy, which has been placed position five in the fastest growing economies in Africa. Sourced from an analytic article by Yahoo Finance, the country’s 2021 7.43 per cent gross domestic product (GDP) growth placed the country on number five. The country’s 2021 GDP is according to the World Bank.
The reports on the new rankings in Eswatini started circulating yesterday.
On fourth place on the rankings is Kenya with 7.52 per cent GDP growth, in third place is Rwanda with 10.88 per cent GDP growth, on second place is Botswana with 11.36 per cent GDP growth and on top of the list Libya with 31.31 per cent GDP growth.
Worth noting is that according to the Central Statistics Office, this year’s GDP growth for Eswatini is 7.9 per cent.
According to Yahoo Finance, Africa’s economy started recovering in 2021 following the disastrous consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. The publication revealed that the gross domestic output increased significantly in 2021 by an estimated 6.9 per cent. The anticipated real GDP growth for Africa in 2021 was higher than both the global average and other regions’ growth rates.
Under the commentary section on Eswatini’s growth, Insider Trading, another online publication, saidbecause of its strong economic links to South Africa, Eswatini depends on that country for around 85 per cent of its imports and 60per cent of its exports. It was revealed that Eswatini’s economy saw a robust recovery in 2021, with real GDP growth predicted to have increased to 7.4 per cent from a 1.9 per cent decline in 2020.
“Lockdown restrictions were relaxed in 2021, which aided export-oriented industries and a strong rebound in foreign demand in major export markets,” read the comment.
When sought for comment, the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development, Thabisile Mlangeni, said these statistics simply showed that Eswatini sprung back swiftly from the effects of COVID-19.
“We are happy that the country has been placed in the map with regards to quick economic recovery,” said Mlangeni.
She went on to reveal that the above mentioned ministry was developing a ‘National Development Plan’, which was a strategy for the country to continue having a quick growing GDP.
“The strategy is meant to guide government spending and the private sector in creating entrepreneurship and employment opportunities,” said the PS.
The PS in the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development also said their main focus was increasing the country’s capital expenditure- which basically looked into increasing viable projects that created employment.
“We will also look into investing in infrastructure and social sector projects like education, health, energy and others.
“In fact, energy has become one of our main priorities as we focus on climate change. We are incorporating all this in our planning to improve the economy in the country,” said Mlangeni.
