Doing Business in Swaziland

Swaziland’s largest trading partner is South Africa, the source of over 87 percent of the country's imports (Swaziland Business Year Book 2007) and over 50 percent of the country’s exports. (Central Bank of Swaziland 2007 Monetary Policy Statement)

U.S. exports to Swaziland account for less than 1 percent of Swazi imports.

Swaziland is a member of the Common Monetary Area (CMA). Its currency, theLi langeni (plural: Emalangeni), is linked to the South African Rand at par.

Swaziland’s real GDP growth performed relatively well during 2006 as officialestimates indicate that economic growth picked up from 2.3 in 2005 to 2.8 in 2006. However it still remains the lowest within the Southern African Customs Union. ((Central Bank of Swaziland Annual Report April 2006/March 2007)

Swaziland is currently a member state of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), and the Southern African Customs Union (SACU). Swaziland provisional derogation to the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) is scheduled to end in December 2009.

Swaziland continues to benefit from African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) eligibility. On January 18, 2001, Swaziland was designated as the 35th AGOA eligible country. AGOA has created job opportunities, especially in the garment manufacturing industry. Swaziland is also a signatory of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.