Cultural and Economic Aspects of Doing Business

in Swaziland

Maciej Matusz12/11/2013

Located in the southern part of the African continent

Capital is Mbabane (+2 GMT) ◦ Coordinates 26.19° S, 31.07° E

Most Northern Point 25.43 ° S Most Southern Point 27.19 ° S Most Eastern Point 32.08 ° E Most Western Point 30.47 ° E

Size: 17,363 sq km

Population: 1,230,985 (2012)

Geography – Location and Size

Source(s): GlobalEdge, World Atlas, and Google Earth

Swaziland is a landlocked countries

It shares a majority of its border with South Africa. The rest of the border is with Mozambique

Geography - Bordering Countries

Source(s): Google Earth

Compared to its neighbors, Swaziland is a relatively small country.◦ It is 46 times smaller than Mozambique

Capital - Maputo (+2 GMT)

801,590 sq km Population 25,203,395

◦ It is 70 times smaller than South Africa Capital – Pretoria (+2 GMT) 1,220,000 sq km Population 51,189,306

Countries in Africa that are more similar to Swaziland would include: ◦ Lesotho- 30,355 sq km

Capital – Maseru (+2 GMT) Population 2,051,545

◦ Rwanda- 26,338 sq km Capital – Kigali (+2 GMT) Population 11,457,801

◦ Burundi- 27,830 sq km Capital – Bujumbura (+2 GMT) Population 9,849,569

Geography - Comparisons

Source(s): World Atlas and GlobalEdge

Language – English (official government business conducted in English)◦ Swazi (other official language)

Belief Systems◦ Zionist 40% (a blend of Christianity and

indigenous ancestral worship)◦ Roman Catholic 20%◦ Muslim 10%◦ Anglican, Bahai, Methodist, Mormon, Jewish 30%

Culture

Source(s): Culture Crossings, Centre for Intercultural Learning, and GlobalEdge

View On Time – Punctuality is not highly valued Personal Space – There is little regard for, or sense of,

personal space Greetings – A handshake with the right hand is the most

common form of greeting◦ Extending to shake hands while touching your own

forearm or wrist is more polite◦ While greeting an elder or someone of higher rank a bow

of the head while shaking hands is expected Communication Style – Communication is very indirect. A

high emphasis on being overly polite and guarding information

Culture

Source(s): Culture Crossings, Centre for Intercultural Learning, and GlobalEdge

Lesotho◦ Language – English (official), Sesotho (Southern Sotho), Zulu, Xhosa◦ Belief Systems – Christian 80%, Indigenous Beliefs 20%◦ View on Time – Punctuality is not highly valued◦ Greetings – Usually all verbal◦ Personal Space – There is little regard for personal space◦ Communication Style – Can be very direct, but not confrontational

Burundi◦ Language – French (official), Kirundi (official), Swahili◦ Belief Systems – Christian 67%, Indigenous Belief 23%, Muslim 10%◦ View on Time – Punctuality in not highly valued◦ Greetings – Handshake and the saying amakuru meaning “what’s the news?”◦ Personal Space – Personal space depends on the relative ranks of people’s positions◦ Communication Style – Tends to be very indirect

Rwanda◦ Language – Kinyarwanda (official) universal Bantu vernacular, French (official), English (official),

Kiswahili (Swahili)◦ Belief Systems – Roman Catholic 56.5%, Protestant 26%, Adventist 11.1%, Muslim 4.6%, Other 1.8%◦ View on Time – Punctuality is not highly valued◦ Greetings – Handshake that tends to linger throughout greeting process◦ Personal Space – Tends to be minimal. People often talk to each other very closely◦ Communication Style – Direct in some situations, and indirect in others

Culture - Comparisons

Source(s): Culture Crossings, Centre for Intercultural Learning, and GlobalEdge

GDP - $6.23 billion◦ GDP per capita - $5,246

Estimated that 69% of the population lives in poverty Exports - $2.04 billion Imports - $2.11 billion Currency – Swazi Lilangeni Inflation Rate – 6.1% Global Competitiveness Report

◦ 3.52 (124 out of 148) Corruption Perception Index 82 out of 175 Index of Economic Freedom 105 out of 177 KOF Index of Globalization 109 out of 187

Economics

Source(s): GlobalEdge, Centre for Intercultural Learning, and XE

Lesotho◦ GDP - $3.72 billion ($1,963 per capita)◦ Exports – $1.00 billion◦ Imports – $2.31 billion◦ Currency – Basotho loti◦ Country Risk - B

Burundi◦ GDP - $5.18 billion ($560 per capita)◦ Exports – $90.8 million◦ Imports – $536.60 million◦ Currency – Burundi franc◦ Country Risk - D

Rwanda◦ GDP - $13.62 billion ($1,354 per capita)◦ Exports – $372.60 million◦ Imports – $1.37 billion◦ Currency - Francs ◦ Country Risk - D

Economics - Comparisons

Source(s): GlobalEdge, and Centre for Intercultural Learning

Member of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) with Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho and South Africa

Member of the United Nations (UN) Member of the African Union (AU) Member of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern

Africa (COMESA)◦ Currently Chairs this organization

Also a member of the WTO and the IMF

Economic Integration

Source(s): GlobalEdge, and Centre for Intercultural Learning, Cultural Crossings

Government Structure – Parlimentary Monarchy◦ Chief of State - King Mswati III◦ Head of Government – Prime Minister

Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini Law and Custom – The monarch holds

supreme executive, legislative, and judicial powers.◦ In practice the monarch powers are

delegated to statutory bodies All laws, passed by parliament, must

be approved by the king before it becomes law

A constitution was passed on July 26, 2005 which allowed for other political parties, but did not allow them to contest elections.

Politics

Source(s): GlobalEdge, and Centre for Intercultural Learning,

Lesotho◦ Government Structure – Parlimentary Constitutional Monarchy

Chief of State – King Letsie III Head of Government – Prime Minister Tom Motsoahae Thabane

The PM is Head of the government and has executive authority. The King serves a largely ceremonial function.

Burundi◦ Government Structure – Presidential Republic

Chief of State – President Pierre Nkurunziza Head of Government – President Pierre Nkurunziza

The legislation is created by the a bicameral assembly and then approved by the President

Rwanda◦ Government Structure – Parliamentary Presidential Republic

Chief of State – President Paul Kagame Head of Government – Prime Minister Pierre-Damien Habumuremyi

The President has broad powers over policy and it is he who appoints the Prime Minister and member of the cabinets who make the policy decisions.

Politics - Comparisons

Source(s): GlobalEdge, and Centre for Intercultural Learning

New Cabinet Appointed◦ A new cabinet has been recently appointed by King

Mswati III which consists of loyalists who will support the rule of the king.

Economic Impact of Food Shortages◦ A survey using 2009 data has shown that the

economic loss from malnutrition amounted to a lost of 37 million working hours or about 1.4% of GDP

Swaziland: Country Outlook◦ Low-level social unrest continues in Swaziland as the

regime remains impervious to popular demands for democratic reforms and lift the ban on political parties

Current Events

Source(s): ViewsWire

Personal Reflection on RW◦ I found that even though most countries in Africa share some

aspects of culture each has something that makes it unique like the language or the types of greetings or communication styles that the people of the respective countries use.

◦ On the economic aspect it was eye opening to see that the per capita income of most people in these countries ranges from $500 to $5,000 compared to the $50,000 that you see in more developed countries.

◦ In term of politics it was a surprise that absolute monarchies still exists in the world as the one in Swaziland. But it was exciting to see that there are efforts by the native people to bring about reforms.

Assessment of library references◦ There is a vast amount of resources in the shape of databases and

personnel in the library that are a great help in finding information and creating reports

Take Away