CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA – In a bid to accelerate industrialisation and secure economic sovereignty across the sub-continent, His Majesty King Mswati III has encouraged the creation of guaranteed regional markets and a robust defensive approach to food security.
Leveraging Eswatini’s current role as the chair of the African Union’s Specialized Technical Committee Ministers of Finance Forum, His Majesty revealed a continent-wide strategy aimed at using the collective buying power of African governments to ignite domestic manufacturing.
The mandate involves pooling government procurement across the continent and granting “Preferred Supplier” status to member nations for a specific list of value-added goods that are currently imported from outside Africa. The King noted that this guaranteed right of supply would provide the exact market certainty needed to accelerate SACU’s industrial ambitions and reverse Africa’s historical lag in manufacturing.
While welcoming the implementation of the provisional tariff concessions under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the King warned that tariff liberalisation alone is insufficient. He emphasised that SACU must build the infrastructure, standards, and financing mechanisms required to compete effectively, with special consideration given to landlocked member states facing higher transport costs.
He cautioned that continental integration must be handled carefully so that it does not inadvertently weaken emerging regional industries or compromise sensitive local economic sectors.
To move away from the continuous export of unprocessed raw materials, which limits local job creation and revenue generation, the King urged the immediate advancement of the proposed Special Industrialisation Fund.
This “fund of funds” is envisioned as a practical vehicle to mobilise private capital and development finance for bankable cross-border projects, specifically targeting small and medium enterprises, women, and youth.
Furthermore, His Majesty underscored that recent global volatility has exposed the danger of relying on external sources for critical agricultural inputs. He called on SACU to prioritise the regional manufacturing of fertilisers, agro-chemicals, and seed production alongside developing regional food reserves.
“Food security is inseparable from national security and economic sovereignty,” the Monarch concluded, reaffirming Eswatini’s total commitment to working with its partners to build a resilient and self-reliant trade bloc.
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