Eswatini - Eswatini Manzini-Mbadlane Highway Project

The project maintained strong strategic relevance from approval to completion. Its development objective to support Eswatini’s growth through investment in a safe, efficient and cost- effective road system that improves regional trade connectivity and mobility along the MR3 corridor (one of the busiest corridors in the country, crossing it from east to west) between Manzini and Mbadlane, responded directly to clearly identified needs. By targeting the upgrading and dualling of a key section of the MR3, a designated SADC regional route linking the industrial and commercial hub of Manzini and Matsapha with the eastern regions and onward to South Africa and the Port of Maputo, the project addressed binding constraints of insufficient road capacity, high vehicle operating costs, long and unreliable travel times, and elevated accident risks for both freight and passenger traffic. The development objective is fully aligned with national priorities set out in the Eswatini National Development Strategy 2023/24 – 2027/28 and the Eswatini G overnment Programme Of Action 2024/2025 to 2028/2029, which places modern, reliable transport infrastructure at the core of efforts to stimulate private-sector activity, expand trade and create jobs, as well as with the Government’s road sector reform agenda aimed at improving asset management and maintenance funding.