Moroke Sekoboto
THE Roads Directorate will host the second edition of the annual Construction EXPO, Exhibition and Conference from 14 to 16 October 2026 at Maseru Club. This year’s event expands beyond roads to cover the entire construction sector.
The event builds on the inaugural 2025 EXPO, which brought together 31 companies and 28 small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) from the construction and road infrastructure sector, including road construction firms, materials suppliers, technical institutions, insurance companies, paramedic service providers, signage suppliers, and mechanical and electrical accessories providers.
Addressing a press conference on Thursday, Roads Directorate Director-General Teboho Mokhoane said the 2026 EXPO would expand beyond road construction to cover buildings, bridges, dams, tunnels and housing.
He said the sector was facing rising material costs, shrinking access to natural resources and tightening budgets, making it necessary to explore new technologies and innovative construction methods.
“We can no longer rely solely on conventional materials and traditional methods when the availability of those materials is shrinking,” Mr Mokhoane said.
He said options such as soil stabilisation, alternative binders, recycled materials, geosynthetics and modified bituminous products should be explored, but warned that new technologies could not simply be adopted because they had worked elsewhere.
“Every material and technology we bring into Lesotho’s construction industry must prove itself technically sound, economically viable and environmentally sustainable under our own conditions; our climate, our geology, our traffic, our terrain,” he said.
Mr Mokhoane said local testing and research would therefore be central to the adoption of new construction technologies. He said the Roads Directorate would work with universities, research institutions, consultants and industry players to build evidence on the performance, durability, cost, constructability, environmental impact and long-term maintenance requirements of new solutions.
The EXPO will bring together government institutions, financiers, insurers, contractors, consultants, suppliers, manufacturers, researchers and academic institutions to discuss challenges facing the construction sector and identify practical solutions.
Mr Mokhoane said the event would also benefit contractors and consultants by giving them access to new materials, equipment, technologies and construction methods that could reduce costs and improve productivity.
“For public bodies, it provides an opportunity to strengthen our shared approach to material selection, specifications, testing and design,” he said.
He said the adoption of suitable local alternatives could also reduce reliance on imports, retain more value within Lesotho’s economy and create opportunities for local manufacturers, suppliers, SMMEs and skilled professionals. He added that the use of locally available and recycled materials could also make construction more sustainable, by reducing transport distances and putting local and marginal materials to better use.
Mr Mokhoane said no single institution could address the challenges facing the sector alone.
“The EXPO is designed as a platform for collaboration, a space where industry can bring solutions to government and where government can bring its challenges to industry,” he said.
He said the Roads Directorate wanted discussions at the three-day event to result in research partnerships, pilot projects, demonstrations and practical implementation beyond the EXPO.
“Promising technologies should move from the exhibition stand to the laboratory, from the laboratory to pilot projects and finally into practical use once they have proven themselves,” he said.
Mr Mokhoane urged technology providers and manufacturers to present credible, tested solutions, while also calling on contractors and consultants to participate in trials and demonstrations. He encouraged academic and research institutions to deepen their collaboration with industry, and called on government ministries and parastatals to share their experiences and lessons.
“Our objective is not simply to construct more. It is to construct better: more durable, more cost-effective and more sustainable,” he said.
He said the success of the 2026 Construction EXPO would ultimately be measured by the partnerships formed, technologies tested and innovations adopted across Lesotho’s infrastructure sector.