BY MBONGENI NDLELA
MBABANE – Eswatini’s economic recovery prospects post-covid and the 2021 social unrests seems brighter by the day. This follows the formalization of the E330 million contribution pledged by the Republic of China in Taiwan to the Reconstruction Fund.
The Reconstruction Fund was launched in September 2021 by His Majesty King Mswati III. It was launched to help businesses that were negatively affected by the social unrest in the kingdom in the middle of 2021. The unrest resulted in riots where some businesses were broken into, looted, and some burnt down.
In launching the fund, His Majesty expressed “We strongly believe that it will go a long way in rehabilitating the damaged structures which are very critical for the resuscitation of business. We take this opportunity to urge all prospective beneficiaries of the Fund to come forward & to use this opportunity wisely.”
The fund was launched with an initial goal of E1 billion. The government of Eswatini immediately injected the first E500 million to start it up, and other benefactors followed suit and contributed to the fund, some through pledges and some through immediate financing. This is when the government of Taiwan pledged to support the rehabilitation of Eswatini’s economy with a contribution of E330 million.
The government of Taiwan and Eswatini finally formalized the E330 million pledge through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the two governments. The government of Taiwan was represented by Ambassador to Eswatini Jeremy Liang, and the government of Eswatini was represented by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Thulisile Dladla.
The Reconstruction Fund is currently being disbursed to qualifying businesses, and the applications can be accessed through the government website.
