CLGF is supporting the government of eSwatini in a project entitled Reducing Poverty Through LED.

Implemented by CLGF’s partners and members, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development and the Swaziland Association of Local Authorities (SWALGA) with support from CLGF, this is the second phase of a project, which builds on lessons from the earlier pilot. The first phase looked at the feasibility of adopting LED as an approach to local development in the country by supporting three urban local authorities - Matsapha Town Council, Mbabane City Council and Manzini City Council – in a number of LED programmes. A key outcome of this was the development of the Local Economic Development Guidelines by the eSwatini Government, the first such document for the country. Up to that point, the approach to local development had not been well coordinated or carried out very systematically.  

The second phase is being implemented over a three-year period from 2017 to 2020 and aims to continue to Enhance the Role of Local Government as a Key Partner in Local Economic Development in eSwatini. This Phase will focus on three actions:  

• continuing to embed LED at the national level; 

• building the capacity of technical staff and political leaders to deliver LED services; and

• improving economic opportunities for citizens within local authorities. 

Following the local government elections in October 2017, the second phase provides an excellent opportunity to build the capacity of the newly-elected local leaders to be LED champions. 

eSwatini will roll-out LED to all remaining urban authorities, ten in total, over and above the initial three pilot authorities. As a starting point, the project will focus on capacity development activities to prepare local authorities to initiate the LED process within their institutions and communities. As part of the CLGF project, a high-level LED orientation training course took place in March 2018, targeting high-level decision makers within the ten authorities with a group of 20 town clerks and CEOs, town treasurers as well as other Senior Management. 

Phumla Ndaba, CLGF LED Advisor - Southern Africa, said: “We are very excited about the new phase of the project. The first phase has yielded so many benefits - locally and nationally – and this is a direct result of the excellent collaboration by all partners, providing multi-level endorsement.”