Last week, more and more people in Swaziland took to the streets nationwide, protesting against and demanding for certain life condition changes which include political reform, and perhaps for the removal of His Majesty, King Mswati III.
However, the solution to help solve, save, and boost Swaziland’s economy as well as rapidly improve the Kingdom’s living standard for all the Swazis to perhaps equate with that of the Western economies, is not all about reforming the Swaziland political atmosphere, but by making drastic and dramatic economic reform, and only our company, Groot Group, has the solution to do it, fast.
The Kingdom’s economy is heavily influenced by South Africa, but America and China’s influence in terms of their products are also reflected throughout the Kingdom’s stagnant development. Its source of revenue is mostly dependent on the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), but that has recently lagged behind by about 2% than the GDP growth in the SACU region.
And, even the recent loan package that Swaziland obtained from South Africa to bail out its Kingdom, which has already depleted, it will never and has not helped the Kingdom meet its financial obligations for its citizens, nor will it ever create sustainable growth for the long-term. And whatever else it’s being done now, nothing will ever be viable and sustainable to create a long-term financial solution for the Kingdom.
While the world is advocating political change in Swaziland as the solution, this either will never alone work. The only solution for the Kingdom of Swaziland and its people, is to undergo an unprecedented economic restructure, which only our group can do, but if not, then even 10 years from now, the situation in Swaziland will simply get worse and worse, because there will be no economic sustainability.
At the current rate, the population in Swaziland could shrink by more than 25%, as the rate of HIV takes its toll; the death rate will skyrocket, while the birth rate will rapidly decrease, and poverty will strike the core nerve of the Kingdom due to the possible shortage of labor and the workforce, hence productivity will sink down, basically; life as we know it in Swaziland could deplete within the next 50 years.
The current stream of income from the Kingdom’s Tax Revenue will not be sufficient since nearly half of the population is unemployed, and more than 75% of the population who currently work are underemployed, hence underpaid. Therefore, the shortage of the tax-revenue for Swaziland.
For years, the world has been condemning and blaming His Majesty, King Mswati III’s habitual spending for his household. But, is His Majesty able to afford his household spending? At independence in 1958, King Sobhuza II, the King’s father, setup a company known as “Tibiyo TakaNgwane”, with stakes in various industries throughout the Kingdom of Swaziland. This company was worth at the time more than US$10 billion which King Sobhuza II, has put in it, and it’s the primary supporter for the King’s household financial need. So, His Majesty, King Mswati III, has the financial resources for his personal spending, Forbes Magazine ranked his network at about US$200 million in 2009, which did not include his stake in Tibiyo.
But what the world doesn’t actually know or understand is the fact that there is a broken-chain in the Kingdom of Swaziland, between the King’s Office and the Government of Swaziland, the Parliament. And until this is fixed, nothing good, in terms of the economy, will ever happen in Swaziland, nothing will work, period.
In the US, President Obama can propose to pass a financial bill that may help stimulate the economy, but it’s up to the US lawmakers (the US Congress and the US Senate) to approve it, and thereafter, the President can sign it to authorize its implementation. And if the Democrats and Republicans don’t agree to approve the bill, then it could die, hence nothing will happen.
Likewise, in Swaziland, the King may authorize certain bills for whatever social programs, but if the Parliament doesn’t approve it, likewise, nothing will happen. Or, if the Parliament approves it, and if the money authorized in that bill may not be sufficiently spent and generate the results for its intended use, because right now, in the Kingdom of Swaziland, there’s no clear-cut system for “checks and balances” to oversee the proper use and spending of whatever is authorized for the Kingdom’s projects. Also, let alone, the Kingdom’s Anti-Corruption Commission, since it was implemented, is yet to try and convict anyone’s wrongdoing, well, may be there’s no wrongdoing.
More and more outside people and opposition parties in Swaziland are focusing on the wrong things that the King is doing or not doing enough to help save His Kingdom. So, let me not drum-roll on what this financial burden of the Kingdom has caused to its national priorities, since this has already been sung by nearly every news media around the world. What I’m going to focus on is the solution for the Kingdom’s long-term financial goal.
In May 2011, I was in Swaziland for about 3 days to do an economic analysis and explore what’s the viable option that would enable a development of a rapid industrial ecosystem in Swaziland, that would help boost the Kingdom’s real GDP from the current US$5.9 billion to more than US50 billion while creating full and sustainable employment for the people of Swaziland, all within 5 years.
My analytical conclusion for Swaziland is that, first, there should be a fixed-link, a system, between the King’s Office and the Parliament, and I know what that “system” must be, and once that’s done, which can be done within 2 months, then things can happen faster to help improve the economic condition in Swaziland.
Once we fix the current broken link between the King’s Office and the Parliament, we can come in and set up a development of an ecosystem in Swaziland that will make Swaziland to become “the umbrella of all things exotic”, basically to embody diverse industrial projects that would make travelers and tourists, just about anyone from anywhere, to want to go and spend a good time in Swaziland. How can this be done? We will develop powerhouse projects that will make people want to go work, shop and play in Swaziland.
In Namibia, we are developing Groot, an ecosystem that will enable for the creation of full sustainable and good paying job opportunities within 5 years, see http://grootgroup.com/leasing, while boosting a cash transaction value of more than US$10 billion in Namibia, ultimately to help the SWAPO-led government realize Namibia’s Vision 2030 within 5 years instead of 20 years.
For Swaziland, we will do the same. We will simply copy the model that we have already designed and engineered to work for Namibia and implement it in Swaziland. And since we have already completed this model for Namibia, it’s easier now to simply carbon-copy it to Swaziland and other stagnant economies.
So easy that, within 6 months, we would have it setup to put more than 10,000 people in Swaziland to work. And within 3 years, more than 30,000 people in Swaziland would be employed in our Swaziland ecosystem development.
One of the first projects that we would want to take over its development in Swaziland is Mpaka’s 1000 MW Coal Thermal Power Plant. We already have the engineers with unquestionable integrity and experience in power plant development, and for financing, we can put this together fast, so that within 6 months, the pre-development of this power plant will be completed and the construction will start thereafter to make this power plant ready and operational within 32 months.
We have put together a plan with several industrial projects that will help create more and better paying and sustainable job opportunities in Swaziland and all we need is a team of passionate entrepreneurs, to work with us and make this happen.
Currently, Swaziland’s unemployment is at more than 40% with the country’s HIV at more than 30%. The workforce in Swaziland is nearly 40% of the country’s population of about 1 million people. So, this is a very easy to manage population. Hence no need for anyone to go to bed hungry in Swaziland.
Currently, about 75% of the Swaziland population is employed in Agricultural sectors, with meager wages and compensation packages, perhaps with no fringe benefits.
Then what’s needed now to get this started? What’s urgently needed is for me to be in Swaziland to help set this up right away.
The process of getting this started right away in Swaziland is simple, which includes;
Find a team to work with in Swaziland, for us to do this; we have to make this a Project for the Swazi people. It has to be a Public Private Partnership. That the Swazi people have to take a major role in making this project to work efficiently Travel to Swaziland and spend at least one to two weeks in Swaziland to set up the process. Make a presentation to His Majesty of the proposed ecosystem development. Once an okay by His Majesty is granted, then the implementation of the proposed “system” to fix the link between the King’s Office and the Parliament must be on course. The Swazi team must register a company in Swaziland for the development of this ecosystem; our group will only take and own no more than 15% of equity in this company, the rest will be owned by the Swazis and the Swaziland government and the investors. Complete the development of the business plan. Secure the financing, using our network of financial partners. Bring in the engineers, from our pool of engineering partners. Complete the Initial Phase of architect design, technical planning and development. Get the required government approval and permits. Construction begins that will put more than 10,000 Swazi people to good paying jobs. All of this should be done within about 6 months.
I’m ready, our group is ready, to start and implement this ecosystem in Swaziland now. Any Swazi’s out there who care about making a difference in Swaziland? Let’s do it, email me now at [email protected].
In the end, it’s not about who or what, but the people of Swaziland who have to do whatever they can in order to bring bread on their table.
Eventually, my hope is that, as we develop one economy at the time in Africa, hopefully African governments move away from political systems to more economic and market driven reforms, for empowerment and independence of their people.
Africa is the richest continent in the world in terms of its natural resources, but yet, for the past 30 – 40 years or so, Africa has received more than US$1 trillion in foreign aid, but yet, more and more people in Africa are still going to bed hungry, while only the elite are enjoying the fruits of the continent’s vast rich resources.
This has and must stop, and only through economic reform will the living standard of all the Africans improve, not through the barrel of the gun.