Mozambique: Mozambican Unrest Threatens Eswatini Exports

Maputo — The riots and demonstrations in Mozambique are threatening Eswatini’s exports of sugar to the European and US markets.

Under normal circumstances, Eswatini uses the sugar terminal in Maputo port to export its raw sugar. The terminal is jointly owned by all the main sugar producers in the region – South Africa, Zimbabwe, Eswatini and Mozambique itself.

Nontobeko Mabuza, of the Eswatini Sugar Association (ESA), cited by the Voice of America radio station, warned that the unrest in Mozambique poses a grave threat to Eswatini’s exports.

The alternative would be to move the sugar via the South African port of Durban, “but this would come at an additional cost,” Mabuza said. “For consistency and safe delivery, our customers might choose to migrate to using the Durban port as the port from which we ship. This would, however, strain the transport infrastructure and potentially come at an additional cost’.

Furthermore, there would be longer turnaround times as the ships are diverted from Mozambique to South Africa.

According to Bhekizwe Maziya, chief executive of the Eswatini national agriculture marketing board, the unrest in Mozambique caused severe traffic congestion and delays at the borders with Eswatini.

What was mainly happening, Maziya said, was closure of the Lebombo/Ressano Garcia border post between South Africa and Mozambique. “So transport had to be rerouted to Eswatini from South Africa and en route to Mozambique. The effects were the congestion at our borders and the delays that were experienced by importers and exporters,” he said.

Sugar is a key Eswatini export. In 2023, the ESA generated 305 million dollars from more than 26,000 tons of sugar exports to the United States and other markets.

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