When José Rego stood in a long queue for his driver’s licence in 2015, he saw more than citizens sweating in the sun. He saw wasted time, lost productivity and the Kingdom’s untapped potential.
“If time is money, and money helps us fulfill our God-given potential, then those hours in the scorching sun meant our futures were draining away into nothingness,” he recalled. “Yet we were all holding mobile devices powerful enough to solve the problem.”
That moment led him to develop Ummo, a virtual queuing solution piloted at the 2017 International Trade Fair in partnership with the Ministry of Home Affairs. In just five days, more than 500 emaSwati applied for passports through their phones while still enjoying the fair. For many, it was a glimpse of how digital tools could transform daily life.
Although Ummo’s early version did not survive, the concept evolved. Today, the company operates systems at border posts and at King Mswati III International Airport, helping travellers and health officials save both time and resources. Rego says the lesson goes beyond one product: when young people are given room to dream and experiment, the entire society benefits.
His own journey began at the University of Eswatini where he switched from medicine to Computer Science, drawn by technology’s power to solve problems quickly. He is now Chairperson of the Innovation Association of Eswatini (IAE), an organisation he helped form in 2014 together with volunteers under the guidance of UNDP and the Government. The mission was to use innovation as a tool for economic growth, and it has since grown into a national platform for entrepreneurship, digital skills and problem solving.
Rego believes young emaSwati are full of ideas but face cultural and financial barriers. “Socially, we are very risk-averse,” he said. “If no one understands a young person’s dream, they may face isolation. Add poverty into the mix, which reduces mental capacity for creativity, and innovation makes way for mere survival.”
He argues that with access to information, investment and policies that support risk-taking, Eswatini could become Africa’s next major tech hub. But he cautions that the country should focus on building what he calls a “success system.”
“It wouldn’t matter much if Ummo succeeded at the onset while other startups kept failing,” he explained. “The industry won’t grow with just one success story, but with a success system.”
The stakes, he says, are significant. The World Bank’s Human Capital Index shows a child born in Eswatini today has only a 37 percent chance of reaching their full potential. “That doesn’t look good for the Kingdom’s future. Our job is to close that gap,” Rego said.
Looking ahead, he imagines Eswatini not only as a cultural hub but also a technology hub, what he calls “our very own Wakanda.” He points to government efforts to digitise services, improve ICT infrastructure and train 300,000 emaSwati in digital skills as signs of progress.
Still, he warns that the transformation will not happen overnight. Persistence, transparency, fairness and above all, belief in young people’s ideas are needed. His advice to aspiring innovators is direct: “Embrace discomfort and rejection; delay gratification; grow thick skin; run towards the pain; invest in people; be obsessed with your work.”
For Rego, the goal is not personal recognition. “Eswatini will emulate the principal successes of Silicon Valley, with or without me. I just want to play my part,” he said.
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