It’s not every day that one is invited to lunch with a king. So when Kellogg sent an invite for me to travel to Eswatini for the opening of its Kellogg Tolaram’s Noodles factory at Matsapha industrial site in the Kingdom of Eswatini, I had my bags packed at lightning speed.
King Mswati III was to officially open the factory, which was built during the height of the Covid pandemic in April 2020 and production started in February of 2021 – a record build for the country. A near impossible feat as most countries were locked down and some building supplies were in scarce supply.
“We have ambitions to grow in Africa, so when in 2015, Kellog and Tolaram formed a joint venture it was precisely to accelerate that growth. We now have got production facilities in Nigeria, Egypt, obviously SA, and now Eswatini. Eswatini is a member of COMESA, that means it’s part of the free trade zone, which allows us to export our noodles to more African countries. That means, from an export perspective, it makes it easier to export from here,” Mposelwa says.
The king arrived to the sounds of the police marching band with his security team. As his white Rolls Royce limousine approached, a group of men dressed in traditional attire started to sing his praises; this was to be the music we would hear until the king signalled for silence. During his official speech he regaled the attendees of the lunch with anecdotes from his time in London as a student. He also said he would be dropping into the factory from time to time to check on a tree he planted as part of the opening ceremony proceedings. He also commended the builders, Kellog Tolaram, on being environmentally conscious. He then christened the factory.
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