Eswatini’s stagnating economic growth, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, has had a devastating impact on citizens’ livelihoods. After recording significant gains between 2013 and 2018, citizens’ assessments of their personal living conditions have taken a nosedive, the latest Afrobarometer survey shows.
Most Emaswati have a bleak outlook on the economy: Almost two-thirds of citizens expect things to get worse during the coming year.
In managing the economy, most Emaswati rank unemployment as the No.1 critical economic issue they want government to address.