An Educated and Trainable Work Force at Competitive Rates
- At 87.8%, Eswatini’s literacy rate ranks it 8th amongst 52 African countries. (Africland Post)
- Wage rates in Eswatini are close to other middle income countries but remain 20% lower than in neighboring South Africa.
- Labor relations in the kingdom are generally not contentious.
Advanced Infrastructure
- While landlocked, the kingdom’s good road system (which covers 3,594 km) and cargo rail system (covering 301 km) provide easy access to seaports, including Durban and Richards Bay in South Africa.
- A new state-of-the-art international airport was inaugurated in March 2014.
- Although Eswatini does not have any free trade zones, it supports four industrial areas. The largest one, located in Matsapha, between the main cities of Mbabane and Manzini, has direct rail and road links to the ports of Durban and Port Richard’s Bay, South Africa; and Maputo, Mozambique.
A Stable and Free Business Environment
- Ranked number 1 in Africa in Trading Across Boarders in the 2019 World Bank Ease of Doing Business Index.
- Eswatini is ranked 1st out of 46 countries in the Sub-Saharan Africa region in the 2017 Index of Economic Freedom, and its overall score is above the world average.
Generous incentives
- Exemption from duty on raw materials to manufacture goods to be exported outside the Southern African Customs Union (SACU).
- Generous tax allowances and deductions for new enterprises, including a 10-year exemption from withholding tax on dividends and a low corporate tax of 10 percent for approved investment projects.
- New investors also enjoy duty-free import of machinery and equipment.
- Fully serviced industrial sites and provision of purpose-built factory shells at subsidized rates..
Sources:U.S. Department of State, “2013 Investment Climate Statement – Eswatini”, Heritage Foundation; African Development Bank,2013