Eswatini’s National Development Plan (NDP 2023/24-2027/28) presents a great opportunity for the country to address development challenges, particularly in achieving structural economic transformation and accelerating the implementation of Agenda 2030 and Agenda 2063 priorities. The resources required to finance the NDP are estimated at E157.688 billion (USD 8.7 billion). Implementing NDP requires mobilizing a diverse range of public and private financial resources, leading the Government of Eswatini to adopt an INFF approach and undertake a development finance assessment (DFA) in 2021 under the leadership of the Ministry of Finance (MoF).
The DFA recommendations are being carried forward by the Ministry of Finance (MoF) and the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development (MEPD) that are currently establishing an Oversight Committee for overseeing the INFF process. The MoF, in collaboration with the Eswatini Revenue Services, is aligning tax policies with the SDGs, promoting pro-equality and pro-poor tax systems. In addition, SDG-aligned investment opportunity areas have been identified to enhance private financing sources, with the development of the SDG Investor map and the presentation in the SDG Investor Fair in 2022.
Next, Eswatini will develop a comprehensive SDG financing strategy, as well as programming and budgeting tools to improve its financing ecosystem to support the implementation of the NDP.