UMshwathi LM economy is focused on the agricultural sector and other economic activities primarily related to this sector. It is not surprising then, that sectoral employment trends mirror these economic trends, with the greatest percentage of people being employed in the farming sector. According to uMgungundlovu District Municipality IDP 2017/18, there are six critical sectors that contribute more than 92% of the district economy: agriculture, manufacturing, wholesale and trade, finance, community service and households. .

The manufacturing sector contributes 19.9% to the local GDP (Statistics SA 2011). Manufacturing activities are mainly related to agricultural processing activities, notably sugar and timber processing activities, and to a lesser extent processing and manufacturing of food. In the interim, a superficial glance at the municipality indicates the major industries as Illovo suger milling in Noodsberg and sugar and maize mill and tannin producing plant of UCL Company Limited in Dalto. Other businesses of significance include the feedlots of Triple A, Crafcor and Argyle poultry. There is evidence of numerous downstream industries developing as consequence of these industries..

UMshwathi comprises of four major urban centres (New Hanover, Wartburg, Dalton, and Cool Air). Wartburg and New Hanover are the commonly used centres within the UMshwathi Municipality. These areas have largely urban settings and incorporate the major economic and administration activities of the Municipality. It accommodates the municipal offices, Provincial Government offices, major schools, police stations, a magistrate’s court and a large variety of commercial and retail outlets. These nodal areas are linked by good transportation/ road networks which all link to the major transportation routes within the Municipality i.e. the R33 (Greytown Road) and the R614 (Wartburg Road). R33 provides a high degree of accessibility between the urban centres and also with the surrounding Municipalities of Umvoti, Msinga and Endumeni (within the Umzinyathi District)..

The needs and the priorities currently revolve around Eskom upgrading their bulk infrastructure. If they fail to improve the bulk infrastructure the chances of the communities receiving household connections and potential for economic development are extremely poor. The map below shows the potential on the Eskom network for new connections: Immediate Connections – Grid Connections (1185 Households) 1 Year – Grid Connections: 2745 (Upgrades to MV Networks), 5 Year Plan – Grid Connections: 5890, 5 Year Plan – Enable Grid Connections (Substation Establishment). The potential delay in the delivery of electricity connections has to be addressed as an interim measure. Interactions with the Department of Energy has revealed that there is funding available for non-grid electricity and the municipality is currently investigating this form of electricity the 5 890 houses that will only get electricity in five years.