E37bn PLEDGES: Companies share their plans

The Eswatini Investment Promotion Authority (EIPA) last week hosted the maiden Eswatini Investment Conference which saw local and international investors pledge over E37 billion.
The multi-billion pledges will certainly create numerous jobs for locals as per His Majesty King Mswati III’s order that every local should be gainfully employed.

The investors who pledged were drawn from different sectors, including mining, manufacturing and agriculture, among others.
It was shared that the investment aims to create over 10 000 employment.
Some of the investors shared their plan below:

1. African Alliance –S’thofeni Ginindza

His company plans to boost the hospitality and food sectors by building two new hotels to address the country’s accommodation shortage.
He stated that every after two years; his company would be constructing two hotels.
Ginindza said they were tapping into beef production, since there was also a market for it, adding they would be exporting it to international markets.
They also planned to expand their leading chicken business, Umbuluzi, reinforcing their position as the biggest chicken supplier in Eswatini.

2. African Food Security – Allen Kessler

He said African Food Security was an American based company with ties all over Africa and their main focus was agriculture.
He said they were working closely with the local communities, educating and involving them.
He expressed gratitude in that the project had potential impact in Eswatini through job creation and new industry generation, which had the potential to play a pivotal role in the development of the country.
He said they aspired to bring a programme driven by youth enhancement, sustainable farming practices and modern techniques integrated with skills transfer.

3. Royal Eswatini Sugar Corporation – Ivan Sutherland

His company’s capital expenditure over the next five years is projected at E1.3 billion reoccurring and E2.5 billion new investments.
They employ about 4 200 employees and house 27 000 employees. Dividend pay-out since 2010 has been about E4.7 billion.
He explained that they did not just deal with sugar and ethanol but also packing, ecotourism, wildlife and livestock.
He said future plans under power generation were to generate between 50 and 80 Megawatts of power.
He said they were looking for co-investment in the power generation project and implementation. He said the investment was between E6 and E10 billion and the project execution would start this year and expected to be completed by 2029.
He also mentioned that they were producing rum and the capital cost was between E200 and E500 million. First brand would be launched by September.
He said RES Corp was currently undertaking a high-level study on the feasibility of producing jet fuel and the capital cost was estimated to be between E2 and E4 billion.
He said they were exploring a long-term possibility for investing in a plant valued between E3 and E5 billion for the manufacture of bio plastics. He said this was driven mainly by increasing environmental concerns, government regulations on plastic disposal as well as the demand for sustainable products. He said the global market was estimated to be about E20 billion.

4. Voltalia Solar – Armandt Joubert

He said they were currently developing a 15 Megawatt solar PV project in the Lobombo region, estimated to be between E360 to E450 million.
He explained that the typical project structure was 40 per cent local shareholding and Standard Bank was their lender and partner in the project. He said the estimated employment and local supply chain is 140 direct and indirect job opportunities during the construction phase.
Her said during the operations and maintenance, they estimated a minimum of 14 direct job opportunities for Emaswati.
He said they were looking forward to supporting Eswatini in this investment and future investments to come.

5. Eswatini Metal Foundry – Matt Sprague

The company exports 80 containers out of Eswatini on a monthly basis and has an annual turnover of E200 million.
He said they also operated in three additional Southern African countries.
Sprague said their purpose was to unlock value from scrap, create jobs and protect the environment.
He said their vision was to drive industrial growth and self-reliance as well as reduce dependency on metal imports and increase local metal manufacturing.
He said their key objective was to create a sustainable economy and generate employment and transfer skills and minimising landfill waste and improve waste management while enhancing national; revenue and reducing metal and infrastructure theft and vandalism.
He said once the licenses were granted, their plan was to implement phases one to four of the project and after six months they planned to have an operational aluminum and copper furnace.
After 12 months they planned to have an operational battery recycling plan that would be recycling led batteries.
He added that after 18 months, they planned to have an operational tyre and recycling plant which would be converting tyres and plastic into fuel.
He said after 36 months, they also planned to have an operational steel furnace.
He said the total capital investment for the projects was estimated at E625 million, including construction and infrastructure.
He said their financial forecast was expected to start at E770 million annually and was expected to grow to about E1 billion annually.
He said employment opportunities were projected to be about 500 direct and indirect jobs created and a skills transfer programme would be implemented. He said environmental benefits would include reducing outsourced fuel and reducing environmental impacts and reducing solid waste.
He said tax compliance and reducing metal theft was another key component of the programme.

6. Magomba Mining – Wandile Hlatswayo

Hlatshwayo said Magomba Mining began operations in January and they were now extracting coal.
He said one of the pledges they were making was to become the platinum sponsor of the conference next year.
He said Magomba Mining had employed over 500 Emaswati and expected to scale up to between 600 and 800 jobs created.
He said in the next five to six months, they projected to extract 100 000 tones and in about two to three years they projected to be making a turnover of about E1.8 billion, equalling to about E1.2 billion after losses.
He pledged that they would make a significant impact in the country’s economic growth.
He acknowledged the positive support from government.

7. Big Bend Textile Manufacturing Plant – Mike Flinn

Flinn said they had secured E3.6 billion for a cotton value chain processing plant.
Flinn highlighted that the project was part of the larger Mkhondvo-Ngwavuma water initiative, positioning cotton as the anchor crop.
The goal is to keep the entire value chain within the country, from farming cotton to exporting the finished garments.
To achieve this ambitious vision, the plant will focus on developing facilities that can process raw cotton and supply the textile industry with the necessary fabric. Flinn emphasised the importance of creating a self-sustaining ecosystem that benefits local farmers and manufacturers alike.
Currently, the team was engaged in developing due diligence and final feasibility assessments to ensure the project’s success.

8. Kellogs Tolaram Eswatini Food Manufacturing – Tony Uzoebo and Raybind Patel

According to Uzoebo, the Kellogs manufacturing plant currently generates E5 billion for Eswatini.
Phase two of the project, which will commerce in June, will generate an extra E150 million for the country. The company also owns Lush Haircare manufacturing plant based in Ngwenya. The plant currently employs 700 staff members, 90 per cent being women.
He said by the end of 2025, they would be doubling the employment number of staff.
In the next 18 months they will turn the noodles plant from two to four lines.
They will also establish a flourmill plant to produce 250 tonnes a day of flour.
The company also plans to integrate into healthcare, where they will establish a bleach plant which is set to open in the next two years. The group came into Africa in 1980 and currently employs over 25 000 people in the continent and has 30 manufacturing plants across Africa.

9. Eswatini Railways Matsapha Dry Port / Inland Container Depot (ICD) Expansion – Nixon Dlamini

This is where bulk cargo imports are delivered into Eswatini, including containers.
According to Dlamini the expansion of this port will cost E149 million and will create employment for 212 people.
Dlamini said this was one of the projects which are worth E300 million in total.

10. Eswatini Water and Agricultural Development Enterprise (EWADE) – Dr Sam Sithole

Dr Sithole stated that their project was the Mkhondvo–Ngwavuma Water Augmentation Project (MNWAP) worth E32 billion. It is made out of four components, whereby one is the building of dams and one was already under construction, being Mpakeni Dam.
The other component is agriculture, Dr Sithole said 30 00 hectares of land has been developed and will include the planting of cotton, industrial maize and Bana grass.
Another component includes the agro-processing zone which will require private sector investment.
There is also the Eco-city and a hydro processing which is expected to create 100 000 of jobs in that area.