As part of its broader mandate under MNWAP, EWADE is working closely with the Ministry of Education and Training and the Ministry of Labour and Social Security’s Directorate of Industrial Vocational Training (DIVT), with financial support from the African Development Bank (AfDB). Together, they have placed about fifty (50) Diploma holders in construction related fields under an apprenticeship programme at the dam construction site, where they (graduates) are undergoing practical training under the guidance of seasoned local and expatriate engineers.

In a bid to equip young emaSwati with technical skills and create meaningful opportunities, EWADE together with the Ministry of Education and Training, is placing youth empowerment at the heart of the multi-billion Emalangeni Mkhondvo–Ngwavuma Water Augmentation Programme (MNWAP). The two entities are deliberately investing in skills transfer initiatives that will ensure the project leaves behind a legacy of human capital development in Eswatini.

According to EWADE’s Corporate Communications Manager, Nokwazi Hlophe, the organisation has seconded eight (8) graduate engineers to the Mpakeni Dam site, giving them valuable hands-on exposure to a world-class dam construction project engineered by Sakhalive Joint Venture, a consortium formed by two Chinese construction heavyweights, Yellow River and Sinohydro. “This pipeline of local talent not only strengthens national expertise but ensures that the project’s impact extends far beyond infrastructure, into long-term human capital development,” Hlophe said.

“This collaboration ensures that Eswatini develops a new generation of technically skilled professionals who can take up opportunities in construction and related sectors,” Hlophe said.

The Ministry of Education and Training’s ISJ-MNWAP Project Coordinator, Mcolisi Stan Maphosa, explained that the Project and its initiatives, officially known as the Integrating Skills and Jobs in MNWAP Programme, was designed to address the challenge of unemployed TVET graduates who lack practical experience. “These (50) fifty apprenticeship graduates, most of them young women, will be working under Sakhalive Joint Venture for two years. At the end, they will be awarded an Apprenticeship Certificate by the DIVT, which is now a requirement for employability in many industries,” Maphosa said.

Over and above the apprenticeship programme, one hundred (100) youths are receiving training at the Lulakeni Regional Education Centre and the Nhlangano Agricultural Skills Training Centre (NASTC). Of these, 60 are enrolled at Lulakeni and 40 at NASTIC, learning trades such as plumbing, pipe fitting, automotive mechanics, and agricultural value chains including post-harvest handling. This training is strategically aligned with the job opportunities expected to arise from MNWAP’s farming enterprises, eco-city, and agro-processing zone.

“The integration of skills and jobs in MNWAP is not only enhancing employability for Eswatini’s youth but also providing income-generation pathways, particularly for young women in the Shiselweni Region and beyond,” Maphosa noted.

Regarding job creation, Sakhalive JV employs 850 people in the construction of the dam, with 92 percent (779) of the workforce comprising local residents. This not only provides a significant source of income for households in the surrounding communities but also contributes to skills development and long-term socio-economic empowerment.

At its core, the Mkhondvo Ngwavuma Water Augmentation Project (MNWAP) is Eswatini’s bold answer to the intertwined challenges of rural poverty, erratic rainfall, food insecurity, and economic exclusion. Envisioned to directly benefit over 100,000 people in the country’s most drought-prone region, MNWAP is gradually taking shape as a multi-phase infrastructure buildout anchored by the construction of the Mpakeni Dam in the Shiselweni Region.

EWADE’s leadership in driving this initiative demonstrates its commitment to ensuring that the MNWAP does more than deliver water and agricultural infrastructure. It is laying the foundation for a technically skilled workforce that will serve the country for generations to come.