The
possibility of having to diversify from sugar into other economic activities
necessitates a careful monitoring of the national business climate, given that
national as well as foreign private capital will be needed. The cost of doing
business in Swaziland has recently been affected by the high tariffs and low
dependability of public utilities. This may require the privatisation of
certain services in order to improve efficiency The business climate would also
be helped considerably by a relaxation of the regulations governing the
establishment of new businesses.
An
implementation of the investor roadmap which shows areas where Swaziland needs
to work on in order to improve is attractiveness for foreign investment is
required. This will include, but not limited to, ensuring that there is
competition in the local utility provision market (with the related
requirements of efficiency and delivery) including the general relaxation of
business registration requirements.
Measures
There
are environmental concerns about the level of air pollution caused by the use
of coal as supplementary fuel in the sugar factories. Any attempt to
rationalise the mills will, by itself, bring down the amount of pollution, as
coal constitutes one of the more significant components of operating cost.
Trials for collecting, storing, recovering
and burning baled cane trash as supplementary sugar factory fuel are presently
being carried out on a semi-industrial scale by the industry.
The
contribution of water to economic prospects and national welfare must
constantly be maximised, and there is a need to develop a national water
conservation and management system.
Support
to industrial-scale trials of substituting coal by baled sugar cane trash as
supplementary factory fuel should be provided. Also, a national water master
plan must be developed with a view to implementation in the medium term. On a
general level, there is need to improve environmental management mechanisms.
Measures:
Presently,
access to land in Swaziland is very regulated, and limited. It is therefore not
easy to use land as a means to support income generation, nor is it possible to
use Swazi Nation Land as collateral for loans. A national land policy is
required to facilitate this change. The land tenure system will thus need to be
reviewed, in line with the development (or revision) of the land policy.
Measure: