…as students develop market-ready digital solutions
Moroke Sekoboto
LEROTHOLI Polytechnic (LP) has taken a significant step towards transforming higher education and tackling youth unemployment with the successful completion of its inaugural UCode AI Technopreneurship Programme, an initiative designed to equip students with practical entrepreneurial skills and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven innovation.
The programme culminated in a demonstration event held on Friday at the institution’s campus, where students showcased technology-based business solutions developed to address real-world challenges.
LP Rector, Professor Sepiriti Tlali, said the programme represents a shift away from traditional classroom-based entrepreneurship towards hands-on enterprise development that prepares students to create businesses rather than simply seek employment.
“The programme actively reshapes the educational landscape by transforming students from passive idea seekers into active builders of market-driven, AI-enabled commercial solutions,” Prof Tlali said.
He explained that unlike conventional entrepreneurship courses, which focus largely on academic theory, the UCode AI Technopreneurship Programme places practical business creation at its core.
Students from different academic disciplines were required to leave the classroom, conduct field research, interview potential customers and validate market needs before developing solutions using AI technologies.
Prof Tlali said the approach aligned with Lesotho’s national priorities of promoting youth employment, strengthening local innovation and accelerating the country’s digital transformation.
“This event is more than a showcase of student ideas. It is a celebration of innovation, creativity, collaboration and the entrepreneurial spirit that we are striving to cultivate across our institution,” he said.
“As our institution continues its journey towards becoming a university of science and technology with an entrepreneurial outlook, we are redefining our role beyond ordinary teaching, learning and research.
“We are embracing a future where institutions of higher learning become engines of innovation, economic development and societal transformation. Today’s presentations demonstrate how knowledge acquired in the classroom can be transformed into practical solutions that address real-world challenges.”
Prof Tlali said the institution was also strengthening structures that will help transform research into commercially viable products and businesses.
He announced that LP would soon establish a Technology Transfer Office to help convert innovative ideas, research outputs and intellectual property into products, services and enterprises with tangible social and economic impact.
“We want our students and researchers to see innovation not only as an academic achievement but also as an opportunity to create value for society,” he said.
He added that the institution would also establish an LP Co-Creation Unit to strengthen collaboration between students, academics, industry, government and communities.
According to Prof Tlali, a University-Industry-Government Advisory Board has already been established to guide the Co-Creation Unit.
“The complex challenges of our time cannot be solved in isolation. They require partnerships that combine diverse knowledge, expertise and perspectives.
“The projects we will witness today are examples of this collaborative approach, where innovation emerges through engagement with stakeholders and responsiveness to societal needs,” he said.
The first cohort of the programme produced three student-developed digital platforms with strong commercial potential.
The first, Rekisa, a retail and inventory management platform designed to help small retailers and informal spaza shop owners manage stock and daily business operations more efficiently.
The second, Tataiso, an AI-powered learning assistant that enables students to organise study materials, understand complex concepts and access educational support while maintaining academic integrity.
The third innovation, Agri-Crit Connect, is an agricultural market access platform that links smallholder farmers with formal markets by helping address long-standing challenges relating to product quality, consistency and supply volumes that often prevent farmers from supplying major retailers.