After 50 years of independece, Swaziland is renamed as eSwatini

With 1.3 million citizens, Swaziland will be renamed as eSwatini. The announcement was made by king Mswati III during the celebrations of the 50 years of independence, who has been in charge of the country since 1982.

Part of the population was outraged with this decision, since they believe the king should focus on the country’s weak economy.  eSwatini is the last absolutist monarchy in Africa and in the last few years demonstrators have asked for changes from the actual regime to a democracy.

This renaming implies the change of some entities’ names. Additionally, there is a chance that the Constitution might be revised and even amended.

The cost of this brand/name change is estimated in approximately 6 million dollars. This calculation was made based on the taxable and non-taxable annual income of the country.

For practical reasons and limiting the costs, king Mswati III kept valid all the documents that refer to the former name of the country, including any international agreement or legal contract.

The Tourism Commission has already done its rebranding and, like any other tourism commission, this is a crucial step since it’s the way the country presents itself to the rest of the world. The same entity suggests foreigners to refer to the country as eSwatini, and not Swaziland.