Sandile Innocent DlaminiMr AsanteAfrican Studies13 November 2014The world remains the poor absolute monarchy of the world. Swaziland is one of the world's last remaining absolute monarchies. A landlocked, mountainous country located between South Africa and Mozambique. A country with a lean population of 1.2 million (UN, 2012). It is a country well known for its richness of culture and tradition, attracting thousands of people around the world to get a taste of its cultural beauty. Swaziland is endowed with iron, hydropower, coal and forestry. Furthermore, it has small deposits of gold and diamonds. Swaziland has excellent soil for growing sugarcane making it the country's leading exporter. Subsistence agriculture employs approximately 70% of the population due to the country's favorable weather conditions. Indeed, Swaziland has a diversified economy and comparative advantages compared to neighboring countries. However, Swaziland's average gross domestic product is lower than that of most sub-Saharan countries, regardless of its growth. It is clear that there is a negative relationship between HIV/AIDS and growth. HIV/AIDS affects the workforce, reduces efficiency and productivity and ultimately reduces savings and investment. It is clear that HIV/AIDS has contributed to the slowdown in Swaziland's economic growth. This pandemic has mainly affected the engines of economic growth, foreign direct investment and loss of manpower. Due to lower productivity due to HIV/AIDS, there is a decline in both private and public savings. A low rate of return on capital discourages foreign direct investment (Haacker, 2003). Furthermore, HIV/AIDS discourages investors as it increases the risk of investing in Swaziland. In 2002, Isaksen et al. (2002) explained how a Taiwanese company chose Lesotho over Swaziland due to high levels of HIV/AIDS