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By Edwin Naidu
eSwatini’s relationship with Taiwan is one of Africa’s most enduring diplomatic curiosities — a tiny absolute monarchy that remains Taipei’s last loyal friend on the continent. Yet behind the handshakes, ribbon-cuttings, and “historic partnerships” lies a harder truth: the relationship endures because it benefits the monarchy, not the nation.
And the Swazi people know it.
For decades, Taiwan has poured money into Eswatini — from scholarships and agricultural projects to infrastructure and royal celebrations.
In 2018, a cheque for US$1.3 million was photographed being handed to senior royals for King Mswati III’s 50/50 celebrations. The Taiwanese government denied wrongdoing, but the image told its own story.
Fast-forward to 2024/25, and the pattern repeats — only the stakes are far higher.
The USD 300 million Phuzumoya Strategic Oil Reserve is being sold as a national energy-security triumph. But allegations swirling around the deal suggest that once again, the biggest winners are the King and his inner circle.
Taiwanese officials have allegedly assured the Royal Family that “once the storage facility is built, the income would belong to the King and Royal Family.” Although the King’s spokesperson dismissed the claims as “satanic,” the denials ring hollow in a country where transparency is a foreign concept and royal enrichment is a political constant.
But the oil is part of a deepening diplomatic and economic relationship. Taiwan is financing major infrastructure in eSwatini. On 500 hectares of land made available by the eSwatini government, plans are underway to develop a Taiwanese industrial park expected to create more than 10,000 jobs. There are regular high-level exchanges (among ministers, ambassadors, and technical teams) that reinforce the partnership.
Taiwan invests in Rural electrification, ICT and digital infrastructure, Healthcare and medical missions, Women’s entrepreneurship programmes, and Scholarships and technical training.
In return, Taiwan supports eSwatini in International Forums, while eSwatini consistently advocates for Taiwan’s participation in the United Nations, World Health Organization, and other multilateral bodies. In return, Taiwan treats Eswatini as a trusted diplomatic partner, not a peripheral state.
The relationship is more than five decades, starting in 1968, with the building of deep institutional ties, military and police cooperation, and long-term agricultural and technical missions.
As a frequent flier, King Mswati III has visited Taiwan more than 20 times, making it one of his most visited international destinations.
Earlier this month, President Lai Ching-te jumped through political hoops to travel to eSwatini to mark the 40th anniversary of the King’s accession. Late April, the Taiwanese revealed that the President’s travel plans were disrupted after China allegedly pressured three Indian Ocean nations — Seychelles, Mauritius, and Madagascar — to deny overflight permission for Ching-te’s aircraft ahead of his planned visit to eSwatini.
It was after all the recent milestone event at the Ludzidzini Royal Palace and the Ezulwini Palazzo International Convention Centre in Eswatini, marking his 58th birthday and the 40th anniversary of his coronation (Ruby Jubilee)
King Mswati III was not going to have his party spoiled. His private A340 aircraft was dispatched to fetch the President, who, it is understood, arrived on Sunday morning in time to continue the festivities. A Beijing diplomat raged against the Taiwanese President, claiming he had arrived in eSwatini as a stowaway.
However, eSwatini’s acting government spokesperson, Thabile Mdluli, dismissed China’s diplomatic attack, saying that, if true, such utterances are “deeply unfortunate” and fall short of the standards expected in respectful international discourse.
“eSwatini must not be bullied, and our sovereign decisions ought to be respected by all.”
“Like all sovereign states, eSwatini reserves the right to determine its own foreign relations in accordance with its national interests.”
President Lai said afterwards that the visit “further deepened the friendship between Taiwan and Eswatini.”
So why does the relationship persist?
Because Taiwan needs a friend — and eSwatini’s monarchy needs a patron.
For Taipei, eSwatini is a diplomatic lifeline, a symbolic rebuke to Beijing’s global influence. For King Mswati III, Taiwan is a reliable source of money, gifts, infrastructure, and political cover. It is a relationship built on mutual convenience, not mutual development.
And while the elites trade favours, the country sinks deeper into crisis.
According to Swazi Bridge, the Taiwan leader allegedly travelled to eSwatini carrying over USD12 million, believed to have been handed over to King Mswati III during his recent visit to the Kingdom. The alleged donation, estimated at over E200 million, has not been publicly disclosed by either the eSwatini government or Taiwanese authorities, raising questions about transparency, accountability and the true nature of the funds.
Sources familiar with the matter claim the Taiwanese leader was determined to come to eSwatini despite mounting diplomatic pressure and geopolitical tensions surrounding Taiwan’s shrinking list of allies.
According to insiders, the purpose of the visit extended beyond ceremonial diplomacy and was allegedly tied to securing the Kingdom’s continued political loyalty to Taipei.
The publication further added that the secrecy surrounding the alleged financial package has already fueled speculation within political and diplomatic circles that the money may have been intended as what one source described as a “personal payment” to the King for eSwatini’s unwavering support of Taiwan at the international stage.
But what about Swazi citizens?
The World Bank data is brutal: one in three Swazis is unemployed, and nearly half the population lives on less than $3 a day. Youth unemployment is catastrophic. Rural poverty is entrenched.
Yet the government insists poverty is exaggerated — the King’s spokesperson Percy Simelane, compared eSwatini’s suffering to that of beggars in New York and Paris. It’s a breathtaking deflection from a state that subsidises fuel and bread but cannot create jobs, diversify its economy, or protect its citizens from hunger.
Meanwhile, the monarchy thrives.
Royal birthdays are lavish. Royal fleets expand. Royal projects receive foreign financing. And now, if the allegations are true, even a national oil reserve — a strategic asset meant to protect the country — becomes another revenue stream for the palace.
The Swazi people survive the only way they know how: through resilience, migration, informal work, and the quiet endurance of a population long accustomed to being ruled, not served.
As Lucky Lukhele of the Swaziland Solidarity Network says, “Poverty, healthcare, education and life in eSwatini is a battle for the poor, while the King and his people prosper.”
This is the real story of Eswatini’s loyalty to Taiwan. It is not about diplomacy. It is not about development. It is not about energy security. It is about power — who holds it, who benefits from it, and who is left to suffer in its shadow.
And until eSwatini’s political structure changes, Taiwan will continue to find in Mswati III a grateful ally, and the Swazi people will continue to find themselves on the outside looking in.
Edwin Naidu heads Higher Education Media Services, publisher of www.ednews.africa
