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Currency | lilangeni (SZL), South African rand (ZAR) |
---|---|
1 April - 31 March | |
Trade organisations | WTO, SADC, SACU |
Statistics | |
GDP | $6.344 billion [1] |
GDP rank | 159th (nominal) / 157th (PPP) |
GDP growth | 0.4% (2015), 1.4% (2016), 1.9% (2017e), 1.1% (2018f) [2] |
GDP per capita | $5,807 [1] |
GDP by sector | agriculture: 8.2%, industry: 46.9%, services: 44.9% (2011 est.) |
6.1% (2011 est.) | |
Population below poverty line | 69% (2006) |
Labour force | 457,900 (2007) |
Labour force by occupation | agriculture: 70% |
Unemployment | 40% (2006 est.) |
Main industries | Coal mining, wood pulp, sugar, soft drink concentrates, textile and apparel |
111th (2017) [3] | |
External | |
Exports | $2.049 billion f.o.b. (2011 est.) |
Export goods | soft drink concentrates, sugar, wood pulp, cotton yarn, refrigerators, citrus and canned fruit |
Main export partners | South Africa 59.7%, EU 8.8%, US 8.8%, Mozambique 6.2% (2004) |
Imports | $2.076 billion f.o.b. (2011 est.) |
Import goods | motor vehicles, machinery, transport equipment, foodstuffs, petroleum products, chemicals |
Main import partners | South Africa 95.6%, EU 0.9%, Japan 0.9%, Singapore 0.3% (2004) |
Public finances | |
$703.1 million (2011 est.) | |
Revenues | $1.006 billion (2011) |
Expenses | $1.488 billion (2011) |
Economic aid | recipient: $104 million (2001) |
The economy of Swaziland is fairly diversified, with agriculture, forestry and mining accounting for about 13 percent of GDP, manufacturing (textiles and sugar-related processing) representing 37 percent of GDP and services – with government services in the lead – constituting 50 percent of GDP.
Agriculture is the science and art of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to live in cities. The history of agriculture began thousands of years ago. After gathering wild grains beginning at least 105,000 years ago, nascent farmers began to plant them around 11,500 years ago. Pigs, sheep and cattle were domesticated over 10,000 years ago. Plants were independently cultivated in at least 11 regions of the world. Industrial agriculture based on large-scale monoculture in the twentieth century came to dominate agricultural output, though about 2 billion people still depended on subsistence agriculture into the twenty-first.
Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, using, conserving, and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. The science of forestry has elements that belong to the biological, physical, social, political and managerial sciences.
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef or placer deposit. These deposits form a mineralized package that is of economic interest to the miner.
Title Deed Lands (TDLs), where the bulk of high-value crops are grown (sugar, forestry, and citrus) are characterized by high levels of investment and irrigation, and high productivity. Nevertheless, the majority of the population – about 75 percent—is employed in subsistence agriculture on Swazi Nation Land (SNL), which, in contrast, suffers from low productivity and investment. This dual nature of the Swazi economy, with high productivity in textile manufacturing and in the industrialized agricultural TDLs on the one hand, and declining productivity subsistence agriculture (on SNL) on the other, may well explain the country’s overall low growth, high inequality and unemployment.
In general, to invest is to distribute money in the expectation of some benefit in the future. For example, investment in durable goods, in real estate by the service industry, in factories for manufacturing, in product development, and in research and development. However, this article focuses specifically on investment in financial assets.
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In biology, a population is the number of all the organisms of the same group or species, which live in a particular geographical area, and have the capability of interbreeding. The area of a sexual population is the area where inter-breeding is potentially possible between any pair within the area, and where the probability of interbreeding is greater than the probability of cross-breeding with individuals from other areas.
Economic growth in Swaziland has lagged behind that of its neighbors. Real GDP growth since 2001 has averaged 2.8 percent, nearly 2 percentage points lower than growth in other Southern African Customs Union (SACU) member countries. Low agricultural productivity in the SNLs, repeated droughts, the effect of HIV/AIDS, and an overly large[ clarification needed ] and inefficient government sector are likely contributing factors. Swaziland’s public finances deteriorated in the late 1990s following sizeable[ clarification needed ] surpluses a decade earlier. A combination of declining revenues and increased spending led to significant[ clarification needed ] budget deficits. The considerable[ clarification needed ] spending has not led to more economic growth and has not benefitted the poor to the same extent as regional comparitors, although the poverty headcount has shifted slightly during the first decade of the 2000s (SHIES 2010). Much of the increased spending has gone to current expenditures related to wages, transfers, and subsidies. The wage bill today[ when? ] constitutes over 15 percent of GDP and 55 percent of total public spending; these are some of the highest levels on the African continent. The recent[ when? ] rapid growth in SACU revenues has, however, reversed the fiscal situation, and a sizeable[ clarification needed ] surplus was recorded in 2006/07 and 2012/13. SACU revenues today[ when? ] account for over 50 percent of total government revenues. On the positive side, the external debt burden has declined markedly[ clarification needed ] over the last 20 years,[ when? ] and domestic debt is almost negligible; external debt as a percent of GDP was less than 20 percent in 2006.
The Southern African Customs Union (SACU) is a customs union among five countries of Southern Africa: Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Eswatini. Its headquarters are in the Namibian capital, Windhoek. It was established in 1910.
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Following initial infection, a person may not notice any symptoms or may experience a brief period of influenza-like illness. Typically, this is followed by a prolonged period with no symptoms. As the infection progresses, it interferes more with the immune system, increasing the risk of developing common infections such as tuberculosis, as well as other opportunistic infections, and tumors that rarely affect people who have uncompromised immune systems. These late symptoms of infection are referred to as acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). This stage is often also associated with unintended weight loss.
The Swazi economy is very closely linked to the economy of South Africa, from which it receives over 90 percent of its imports and to which it sends about 70 percent of its exports. Swaziland has great resources making a good trading partner. Swaziland’s other key trading partners are the United States and the EU, from whom the country has received trade preferences for apparel exports (under the African Growth and Opportunity Act – AGOA – to the US) and for sugar (to the EU). Under these agreements, both apparel and sugar exports did well, with rapid growth and a strong inflow of foreign direct investment. Textile exports grew by over 200 percent between 2000 and 2005 and sugar exports increasing by more than 50 percent over the same period. The continued vibrancy of the export sector is threatened by the removal of trade preferences for textiles, the accession to similar preferences for East Asian countries, and the phasing out of preferential prices for sugar to the EU market. Swaziland will thus have to face the challenge of remaining competitive in a changing global environment. A crucial factor in addressing this challenge is the investment climate. The recently concluded Investment Climate Assessment provides some positive findings in this regard, namely that Swaziland firms are among the most productive in Sub-Saharan Africa, although they are less productive than firms in the most productive middle-income countries in other regions. They compare more favorably with firms from lower middle income countries, but are hampered by inadequate governance arrangements and infrastructure.
The economy of South Africa is the second largest in Africa, after Nigeria. It is one of most industrialized countries in Africa. South Africa is an upper-middle-income economy by the World Bank – one of only four such countries in Africa. Since 1996, at the end of over twelve years of international sanctions, South Africa's Gross Domestic Product almost tripled to peak at $400 billion in 2011, but has since declined to roughly $295 billion in both 2016 and 2017. In the same period, foreign exchange reserves increased from $3 billion to nearly $50 billion creating a diversified economy with a growing and sizable middle class, within two decades of ending apartheid. South African state owned enterprises play a significant role in the country's economy with the government owning a share in around 700 SOEs involved in a wide array of important industries. In 2016 the top five challenges to doing business in the country were inefficient government bureaucracy, restrictive labour regulations, a shortage of skilled workers, political instability, and corruption, whilst the country's strong banking sector was rated as a strongly positive feature of the economy. The nation is amongst the G-20, and is the only African member of the group.
The African Growth and Opportunity Act, or AGOA is a piece of legislation that was approved by the U.S. Congress in May 2000. The purpose of this legislation is to assist the economies of sub-Saharan Africa and to improve economic relations between the United States and the region. After completing its initial 15-year period of validity, the AGOA legislation was extended on 29 June 2015 by a further 10 years, to 2025.
Swaziland, Lesotho, Botswana, Namibia, and the Republic of South Africa form the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), where import duties apply uniformly to member countries. Swaziland, Lesotho, Namibia, and South Africa also are members of the Common Monetary Area (CMA) in which repatriation and unrestricted funds are permitted. Swaziland issues its own currency, the lilangeni (plural: emalangeni), which is at par with the South African rand.
The Common Monetary Area (CMA) links South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho and Swaziland into a monetary union. It is allied to the Southern African Customs Union (SACU).
Repatriation is the process of returning an asset, an item of symbolic value or a person – voluntarily or forcibly – to its owner or their place of origin or citizenship. The term may refer to non-human entities, such as converting a foreign currency into the currency of one's own country, as well as to the process of returning military personnel to their place of origin following a war. It also applies to diplomatic envoys, international officials as well as expatriates and migrants in time of international crisis. For refugees, asylum seekers and illegal migrants, repatriation can mean either voluntary return or deportation.
The rand is the official currency of South Africa. The Rand is subdivided into 100 cents. The ISO 4217 code is ZAR, from Afrikaans Zuid-Afrikaanse Rand. The Rand is legal tender in the Common Monetary Area between South Africa, Swaziland (Eswatini), Lesotho and Namibia, although the last three countries do have their own currencies pegged at par with the rand.
Swaziland enjoys well-developed road links with South Africa. Swazi Rail operates its railroads that run east to west and north to south. The older east-west link, called the Goba line, makes it possible to export bulk goods from Swaziland through the Port of Maputo in Mozambique. Until recently, most of Swaziland's imports were shipped through this port. Conflict in Mozambique in the 1980s diverted many Swazi exports to ports in South Africa. A north-south rail link, completed in 1986, provides a connection between the Eastern Transvaal (now Mpumalanga) rail network and the South African ports of Richards Bay and Durban. From the mid-1980s foreign investment in the manufacturing sector boosted economic growth rates significantly. Since mid-1985, the depreciated value of the currency has increased the competitiveness of Swazi exports and moderated the growth of imports, generating trade surpluses. During the 1990s, the country often ran small trade deficits.[ citation needed ]
Goba is a town and separate woreda in south-central Ethiopia. Located in the Bale Zone of the Oromia Region approximately 446 km southeast of Addis Ababa, this city has a latitude and longitude of 7°0′N39°59′E and an elevation of 2,743 meters above sea level.
Maputo, officially named Lourenço Marques until 1976, is the capital and most populous city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is positioned within 120 km of the Eswatini and South Africa borders. The city has a population of 1,101,170 distributed over a land area of 347 km2. The Maputo metropolitan area includes the neighbouring city of Matola, and has a total population of 2,717,437. Maputo is a port city, with an economy centered around commerce. It is also noted for its vibrant cultural scene and distinctive, eclectic architecture.
Swaziland is the fourth largest producer of sugar in Africa and is 25th in production in the world. [4] This demonstrates the immense focus of the industry in order to continue to grow their economy. Swaziland’s GDP was $8.621 billion (US dollars) in 2014 base on purchasing power parity and of that 7.2% of that is from the agriculture sector and of that sector, sugarcane and sugar products have the largest impact on GDP. According to the World CIA Factbook, wood pulp and sugarcane were the largest exports of Swaziland until the wood pulp producer closed in January 2010. [5] This left the sugarcane industry as the sole main export. The largest company that produces sugar in Swaziland is the Royal Swaziland Sugar Corporation (RSSC) and it produces a little under two-thirds of total sugar in the country and produces over 3,000 jobs for the people of Swaziland. The RSSC is composed of two main sugar mill producers, Mhlume and Simunye, which produce a combined 430,000 tons of cane per season. The second largest sugarcane company is Ubombo Sugar Limited which has grown from producing 5,600 tons in 1958 to approximately 230,000 tons of sugar annually. The third largest sugarcane producer is the Tambankulu Estate (largest independent sugar estate)and it produces 62,000 tons of sugar annually on 3,816 hectares of land. [6]
The largest export partners of Swaziland and the larger Southern African Development Community (SADC) is the European Union. The SADC is a group of many southern African countries who have banned together in order to try to improve their individual socioeconomic status. In 2014-2015 the sugar production of Swaziland was 680,881 metric tons and of this about 355,000 metric tons of sugar was shipped to the European Union, larger than any other export partner. Another trade partner for Swaziland was the United States where they shipped 34,000 metric tons of sugar in the 2014-2015 year under the Tariff Rate Quota. These numbers are up from past years and continue to rise. The expected output based on the 2015-2016 post forecast predictions are that Swaziland will produce 705,000 metric tons, a new record for the country that can be attributed to an increase in land being available for sugar cultivation. Of this predicted figure about 390,000 metric tons will go to the European Union as part of a new Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). This new agreement between the EU and SADC means that members like Swaziland can sell there sugar on a duty-free and quota- free basis. [4]
The quotas that the EU and the United States fill is similar to the Sugar Protocol which began in 1975. The goal of the Sugar Protocol was for the EU to purchase and import specific quantities from countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific. These prices and quantities guaranteed production and were well above the world price, which translated into substantial profits for these mostly impoverished countries. [7] This agreement reached an end in 2009 because the EU could no longer support the pre-determined demands. The Sugar Protocol came to an immediate end and was replaced with separate Economic Partnerships with the varying countries and regions. Even though the demands will be just as high as under the Sugar Protocol, the prices will drop significantly. [8] In the case of Swaziland, they have received good reassurance that their product will still be bought by the EU. [4]
Currently, Swaziland’s mineral sector is governed under a policy drawn up prior to Swaziland’s independence. In response to the sector’s recent decline, a new mining policy is being drafted by consultants, paid for by a grant from China, and legislation to facilitate small-scale mining has also been proposed. [9]
The country’s main source of foreign exchange is the Bulembu asbestos mine, however production has hit a steep decline. Diamond, iron ore and gold have also been found in the past, however a lack of investment and development policy has seen the region’s potential falter. [9]
Although fewer than 1,000 Swazis are directly employed in the mining sector, many workers from Swaziland processed timber from the country's extensive pine populations for mines in South Africa, and around 10,000–15,000 Swazis were employed in South African mines. Their contributions to Swaziland's economy through wage repatriation have been diminished, though, by the collapse of the international gold market and layoffs in South Africa. [10]
The following table shows the main economic indicators in 1980–2017. [11]
Jahr | 1980 | 1985 | 1990 | 1995 | 2000 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GDP in $ (PPP) | 0.90 Bln. | 1.50 Bln. | 2.95 Bln. | 3.84 Bln. | 4.83 Bln. | 6.52 Bln. | 7.06 Bln. | 7.54 Bln. | 7.90 Bln. | 8.32 Bln. | 8.72 Bln. | 9.07 Bln. | 9.56 Bln. | 10.18 Bln. | 10.74 Bln. | 10.97 Bln. | 11.11 Bln. | 11.34 Bln. |
GDP per capita in $ (PPP) | 1,653 | 2,359 | 3,793 | 4,421 | 5,033 | 6,537 | 7,000 | 7,387 | 7,658 | 7,978 | 8,268 | 8,502 | 8,853 | 9,317 | 9,712 | 9,807 | 9,814 | 9,884 |
GDP growth (real) | −3.8 % | 3.8 % | 8.9 % | 4.0 % | 2.6 % | 5.5 % | 5.2 % | 3.9 % | 2.8 % | 4.5 % | 3.5 % | 2.0 % | 3.5 % | 3.5 % | 3.6 % | 1.0 % | 0.0 % | 0.2 % |
Inflation (in Percent | 18.2 % | 20.5 % | 13.1 % | 12.3 % | 12.2 % | 1.8 % | 5.2 % | 8.1 % | 12.7 % | 7.4 % | 4.5 % | 6.1 % | 8.9 % | 5.6 % | 5.7 % | 5.0 % | 8.0 % | 6.3 % |
Government debt (Percentage of GDP) | ... | ... | ... | 12 % | 17 % | 13 % | 14 % | 15 % | 14 % | 10 % | 14 % | 14 % | 15 % | 15 % | 14 % | 18 % | 25 % | 29 % |
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 1.6%
highest 10%: 40.7% (2001)
Industrial production growth rate: 1% (2001 est.)
Electricity – production: 470 GWh (2008), 420 GWh (1998)
Electricity – consumption: 1,207 GWh (2008), 962.9 GWh (2001), 1.078 GWh (1998)
Electricity – exports: 0 kWh (2009, 2001, 1998)
Electricity – imports: 768 GWh (2009), 639 GWh (2001), 687 GWh (1998)
note: imports about 60% of its electricity from South Africa (2009)
Currency: 1 lilangeni (E) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: emalangeni (E) per US$1 – 7.3 (2011), 7.32 (2010), 8.42 (2009), 7.75 (2008), 7.4 (2007), 10.5407 (2002), 8.6092 (2001), 6.9398 (2000), 6.1087 (1999), 5.4807 (1998), 4.6032 (1997), 4.2706 (1996), 3.6266 (1995); note – the Lilangeni is at par with the South African rand
The Economy of Angola is one of the fastest-growing in the world, with reported annual average GDP growth of 11.1 percent from 2001 to 2010. It is still recovering from 27 years of the civil war that plagued the country from its independence in 1975 to 2002. Despite extensive oil and gas resources, diamonds, hydroelectric potential, and rich agricultural land, Angola remains poor, and a third of the population relies on subsistence agriculture. Since 2002, when the 27-year civil war ended, the nation has worked to repair and improve ravaged infrastructure and weakened political and social institutions. High international oil prices and rising oil production have contributed to the very strong economic growth since 1998, but corruption and public-sector mismanagement remain, particularly in the oil sector, which accounts for over 50 percent of GDP, over 90 percent of export revenue, and over 80 percent of government revenue.
Since gaining independence, Botswana has been one of the world's fastest growing economies, averaging about 5% per annum over the past decade. Growth in private sector employment averaged about 10% per annum during the first 30 years of the country's independence. After a period of stagnation at the turn of the 21st century, the economy of Botswana resumed registering strong levels of growth, with GDP growth exceeding 6-7% targets. Botswana has been praised by the African Development Bank for sustaining one of the world's longest economic booms. Economic growth since the late 1960s has been on par with some of Asia's largest economies. The government has consistently maintained budget surpluses and has extensive foreign-exchange reserves.
The Dominican Republic has the ninth largest economy in Latin America, and is the largest in the Caribbean and Central America region. It is an upper middle-income developing country primarily dependent on mining, agriculture, trade, and services. Although the service sector has recently overtaken agriculture as the leading employer of Dominicans, agriculture remains the most important sector in terms of domestic consumption and is in second place in terms of export earnings. Tourism accounts for more than $1 billion in annual earnings. free-trade zone earnings and tourism are the fastest-growing export sectors. According to a 1999 International Monetary Fund report, remittances from Dominican Americans, are estimated to be about $1.5 billion per year. Most of these funds are used to cover basic household needs such as shelter, food, clothing, health care and education. Secondarily, remittances have financed small businesses and other productive activities.
Jamaica has natural resources, primarily bauxite, and an ideal climate conducive to agriculture and also tourism. The discovery of bauxite in the 1940s and the subsequent establishment of the bauxite-alumina industry shifted Jamaica's economy from sugar and bananas. By the 1970s, Jamaica had emerged as a world leader in export of these minerals as foreign investment increased.
Kyrgyzstan is a mountainous country with a dominant agricultural sector. Cotton, tobacco, wool, and meat are the main agricultural products, although only tobacco and cotton are exported in any quantity. According to Healy Consultants, the economy relies heavily on the strength of industrial exports, with plentiful reserves of gold, mercury, uranium and natural gas. The economy also relies heavily on remittances from foreign workers. Following independence, Kyrgyzstan was progressive in carrying out market reforms, such as an improved regulatory system and land reform. Kyrgyzstan was the first Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) country to be accepted into the World Trade Organization. Much of the government's stock in enterprises has been sold. Kyrgyzstan's economic performance has been hindered by widespread corruption, low foreign investment and general regional instability. Despite political corruption and regional instability, Kyrgyzstan is ranked 70th on the ease of doing business index.
Lesotho is geographically surrounded by South Africa and economically integrated with it as well. The economy of Lesotho is based on agriculture, livestock, manufacturing, mining, and depends heavily on inflows of workers’ remittances and receipts from the Southern African Customs Union (SACU). The majority of households subsist on farming. The formal sector employment consist of mainly the female workers in the apparel sector, the male migrant labor, primarily miners in South Africa for 3 to 9 months and employment in the Government of Lesotho (GOL). The western lowlands form the main agricultural zone. Almost 50% of the population earn income through informal crop cultivation or animal husbandry with nearly two-thirds of the country's income coming from the agricultural sector.
The economy of Malawi is predominantly agricultural, with about 80% of the population living in rural areas. The landlocked country in south central Africa ranks among the world's least developed countries. In 2017, agriculture accounted for about one-third of GDP and about 80% of export revenue. The economy depends on substantial inflows of economic assistance from the IMF, the World Bank, and individual donor nations. The government faces strong challenges: to spur exports, to improve educational and health facilities, to face up to environmental problems of deforestation and erosion, and to deal with the problem of HIV/AIDS in Africa.
The economy of Martinique is mostly based in the services sector. Agriculture accounts for about 6% of GDP and the small industrial sector for 11%. Sugar production has declined, with most of the sugarcane now used for the production of rum. Banana exports are increasing, going mostly to France. The bulk of meat, vegetable, and grain requirements must be imported, contributing to a chronic trade deficit that requires large annual transfers of aid from France. Tourism has become more important than agricultural exports as a source of foreign exchange. The majority of the work force is employed in the service sector and in administration.
The economy of Mauritius refers to the economic activity of the island nation of Mauritius.
The Namibian economy has a modern market sector, which produces most of the country's wealth, and a traditional subsistence sector. Although the majority of the population engages in subsistence agriculture and herding, Namibia has more than 200,000 skilled workers and a considerable number of well-trained professionals and managerials.
Nicaragua's economy is focused primarily on the agricultural sector. It is the least developed country in Central America, and the second poorest in the Americas by nominal GDP. In recent years, under the administrations of Daniel Ortega, the Nicaraguan economy has expanded somewhat, following the global recession of 2009, when the country's economy actually contracted by 1.5%, due to decreased export demand in the US and Central American markets, lower commodity prices for key agricultural exports, and low remittance growth. The economy saw 4.5% growth in 2010 thanks to a recovery in export demand and growth in its tourism industry. Nicaragua's economy continues to post growth, with preliminary indicators showing the Nicaraguan economy growing an additional 5% in 2011. Consumer Price inflation have also curtailed since 2008, when Nicaragua's inflation rate hovered at 19.82%. In 2009 and 2010, the country posted lower inflation rates, 3.68% and 5.45%, respectively. Remittances are a major source of income, equivalent to 15% of the country's GDP, which originate primarily from Costa Rica, the United States, and European Union member states. Approximately one million Nicaraguans contribute to the remittance sector of the economy.
Eswatini, officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and also known as Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its north, west and south. At no more than 200 kilometres (120 mi) north to south and 130 kilometres (81 mi) east to west, Eswatini is one of the smallest countries in Africa; despite this, its climate and topography are diverse, ranging from a cool and mountainous highveld to a hot and dry lowveld.
The economy of Saint Kitts and Nevis has traditionally depended on the growing and processing of sugar cane; decreasing world prices have hurt the industry in recent years. Tourism, export-oriented manufacturing, and offshore banking activity have assumed larger roles. Most food is imported. The government has undertaken a program designed to revitalize the faltering sugar sector. It is also working to improve revenue collection in order to better fund social programs. In 1997, some leaders in Nevis were urging separation from Saint Kitts on the basis that Nevis was paying far more in taxes than it was receiving in government services, but the vote on cessation failed in August 1998. In late September 1998, Hurricane Georges caused approximately $445 million in damages and limited GDP growth for the year.
Mbabane is the capital and largest city in Eswatini. With an estimated population of 94,874 (2010), it is located on the Mbabane River and its tributary the Polinjane River in the Mdzimba Mountains. It is located in the Hhohho Region, of which it is also the capital. The average elevation of the city is 1243 meters. It lies on the MR3 road.
The lilangeni is the currency of Eswatini and is subdivided into 100 cents. It is issued by the Central Bank of Eswatini. The South African rand is also accepted in the country. Similar to the Lesotho loti, there are singular and plural abbreviations, namely L and E, so where one might have an amount L1, it would be E2, E3, or E4.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Eswatini:
Antigua and Barbuda's economy is service-based, with tourism and government services representing the key sources of employment and income. Tourism accounts directly or indirectly for more than half of GDP and is also the principal earner of foreign exchange in Antigua and Barbuda. However, a series of violent hurricanes since 1995 resulted in serious damage to tourist infrastructure and periods of sharp reductions in visitor numbers. In 1999 the budding offshore financial sector was seriously hurt by financial sanctions imposed by the United States and United Kingdom as a result of the loosening of its money-laundering controls. The government has made efforts to comply with international demands in order to get the sanctions lifted. The dual island nation's agricultural production is mainly directed to the domestic market; the sector is constrained by the limited water supply and labor shortages that reflect the pull of higher wages in tourism and construction. Manufacturing comprises enclave-type assembly for export with major products being bedding, handicrafts, and electronic components. Prospects for economic growth in the medium term will continue to depend on income growth in the industrialized world, especially in the US, which accounts for about one-third of all tourist arrivals. Estimated overall economic growth for 2000 was 2.5%. Inflation has trended down going from above 2 percent in the 1995-99 period and estimated at 0 percent in 2000.
Since the end of apartheid foreign trade in South Africa has decreased, following the lifting of several sanctions and boycotts which were imposed as a means of ending apartheid.