The Kingdom of Eswatini has been praised by the World Bank Group for achieving an impressive 82% electrification rate.
In actual fact, the World Bank Country Director for Eswatini, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa, Marie Francoise Marie Nelly has tipped the country to make history and become one of the first countries on the continent to achieve a 100% universal electricity access rate by the year 2030.
The Country Director made this assertion yesterday during the official launch of the Country Partnership Framework (CPF) (FY 2024-2028) at the Hilton Garden Inn Hotel.
The CPF has been compiled by the World Bank Group and seeks to assist Eswatini’s transition to a more private sector-led growth model that promotes inclusive, sustainable, and resilient economic growth.
The CPF focuses on enhancing conditions for private sector competitiveness, promoting the growth of medium, small, and micro enterprises, improving transparency, accountability, and fiscal sustainability, and expanding access to electricity.
“I would like to commend the Kingdom of Eswatini for managing to achieve an over 80% of electricity access. I am aware that the country has a number of challenges, just like other economies, but what the country has achieved in this area is really commendable.”
The Country Director then made a bold claim, noting that the country is on the cusp of history.
“We are all aware that electricity access in many countries on the continent is very low. However, we believe is one of the few countries in the continent that can achieve 100% electricity access by 2030. But of course, the last mile is always the hardest one. I, therefore, urge the Eswatini Electricity Company to further accelerate the electricity supply in the country,” she noted.
According to the World Bank, electricity access in the country currently sits at 82.9%, while the continent averages a total electricity access rate of 43%.