BY MBONO MDLULI
MBABANE – The Republic of China (Taiwan) continues to land a helping hand to Eswatini, with one of them being the electrification of the country, which is now at 85 percent.
The electrification is one of the many programmes highlighted by Prime Minister Russell Mmiso Dlamini today, when he met Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen, in his ongoing working visit to the Far East Asian country. Dlamini said today, Eswatini had one of the highest rates of electricity access was because of Taiwan’s benevolence, which had been in existence for about 56 years now.
Another programme highlighted by the Premier was the renovation of Mbabane Government Hospital’s Referral and the Emergency Complex, which was completed in 2021 by CECI Engineering Consultants. Here, Taiwan provided its medical services and construction capabilities, two areas of excellence, to improve the quality of life for Emaswati.
The Prime Minister also spoke of a Taiwan sponsored women empowerment programme, under the patronage of Her Majesty the Queen Mother, which continued to transform the lives of a huge population of women in our country.
The Taiwan ICDF Technical Mission in Eswatini is one of the many programmes that Eswatini benefits from. This programme continues to provide technical support to local farmers in Eswatini – transforming the agricultural industry and technology, through which Emaswati farmers continue to inherit adept farming methods and knowledge. This has resulted in an upward gradient of food security in the Kingdom and has empowered the rural youth and women.
Another programme is the youth empowerment initiatives, fully funded university scholarships awarded to Emaswati students to study in Taiwan, and the recently introduced Eswatini English teaching program for Swazis to teach English in Taiwan.
