Beijing boosts ties with eSwatini despite diplomatic dispute over Taiwan

China has steadily advanced its trade and infrastructure ties with eSwatini despite a lack of diplomatic relations, which observers said could reflect Beijing’s “long game” approach with the region.

In the landlocked nation’s southern region, a major power dam has been under construction by state-owned Chinese company POWERCHINA since last year.

The US$146 million Mpakeni Dam, a project awarded to POWERCHINA’s subsidiary Sinohydro in 2023, is said to be the first engineering contracting project in eSwatini signed by a Chinese enterprise.

Once complete, the dam will hold 120 million cubic metres (4,237 cubic feet) of water and be capable of irrigating up to 5,000 hectares (12,355 acres) of land.

According to POWERCHINA’s website, this would “promote the country’s agricultural development, ensure food security and realise the diversification of crop planting, which is also significant to eradicating hunger and poverty in the country”.

It is also a component of the much larger Mkhondvo-Ngwavuma Water Augmentation Project , which has a total expected cost of US$2.8 billion and is funded by the African Development Bank .