Minister of Economic Planning & Development, Dr. Tambo Gina hosts development partners, seeks feedback on draft  National Development Plan

(28 July 2022: Mbabane) - Minister of Economic Planning & Development, Dr. Tambo Gina today convened a meeting for ambassadors, heads of missions and United Nations Heads of Agencies to obtain their feedback on the new National Development Plan for the period 2023 to 2027, currently being developed.

The meeting was held at the UN House in Mbabane with some participants joining virtually.

The NDP development process has so far benefitted from extensive consultations with the public sector, private sector, civil society and development partners. The document spells out Government’s plans to achieve economic recovery and sustainable livelihoods for all Emaswati in the next five years..

Minister Gina, who officially opened the meeting together with the UN Resident Coordinator, Mr. George Wachira, explained that the new Plan has been developed following the expiration in March 2022 of the previous NDP which covered the period 2018-2022.

He noted that the previous NDP faced a number of challenges during its implementation which had not been envisaged. “We did not envisage the outbreak of the COVID -19 pandemic in March 2020 and the political unrests in June and July 2021,” the Minister said. “Nonetheless, I wish to express Government’s appreciation of the quick response and support received from our Development Partners which mitigated the devastating impacts COVID 19 could have had on human lives. We appreciate the technical and financial support, the food parcels, the vaccines and others that our development partners extended to the nation. We also want to thank you for the contributions you have already made and are making towards resolution of the political situation in the country, including the contributions you made towards the recovery of businesses that were damaged during the June and July 2021 unrests.”

  Mr. Wachira acknowledged the critical role of development partners and thanked UNDP and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa for supporting the NDP process and noted the need for alignment between the new and the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (202102025) signed jointly with the Government with a vision to see a prosperous, just and resilient Eswatini where no one is left behind. “As we review the document, we are keen to see ever strong links between the Plan and the Agenda 2030 national commitments,”  he said.

Mr. Wachira noted that planning for the next five years was difficult in light of the increasingly vulnerable, uncertain, complex and ambiguous environment, or “VUCA”. “We only need to think about the multiple crises that have buffeted and continue to disrupt our world today,” he said. “What does this mean for planning? In my mind, this world of today is increasingly challenging our traditional planning tools, and calling us to ensure our plans have inbuilt capacities for responsiveness ad adaptability.”

Mr. Wachira suggested that the planning process could be boosted through use of tools and thinking that challenge our imagination and help us to peer into the future, including horizon scanning, foresight for development, and scenario thinking.

The NDP has been drafted by a technical team led by Ms. Nomsa Dlamini, former chief economist in the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development. The team will consolidate the comments from development partners and other stakeholders to finalize the document for approval by Cabinet.

For more information, please contact:

Sibusiso Mngadi, Communications & Advocacy Officer

UN Resident Coordinator’s Office

5th Floor, UN House. Mbabane.

Tel: 7806 9042  Email: sibusiso.mngadi@un.org