Eswatini - Mkhondvo-Ngwavuma Water Augmentation Program Phase IA (MNWAP-1A)

The Eswatini Mkhondvo-Ngwavuma Water Augmentation Program (MNWAP) is a top priority of the Government of the Kingdom of Eswatini. MNWAP is a holistic development program that cuts across several sectors but centered around agricultural and agro-industrial development. There is an urgent need to implement the program to benefit communities in that very poor region of the Kingdom and lay the ground for a strong industrial base to reduce the current high rate of unemployment. The program is transformative in nature and will elevate an entire region to commercial agribusiness for the benefit not only to Eswatini, but also spillover to South Africa, Mozambique, and the rest of the SADC region. MNWAP will be implemented in three overlapping phases with different financiers entering at different times and in parallel financing arrangements. Phase I of the program, MNWAP I, involves the construction of the first dam -Mpakeni Dam- and associated infrastructure in addition to the downstream development in 10,000 ha. MNWAP I has three components: i) Infrastructure Development; ii) Project Management, Engineering Supervision and Environmental and Social Management Plan, and iii) Agricultural development.