Matšeliso Motšoane
MASERU — The Lesotho National Development Corporation (LNDC) CEO Joshua Setipa has included French as the second language in the corporation’s websites in an effort to attract French speaking foreign investors. Setipa told a press conference on Thursday that LNDC is trying to look at ways in which it can consolidate industries that were not traditionally part of investments in Lesotho.
So far the LNDC interacts with the English speaking world only and has for the past 45 years not appealed to French speakers to invest in the country. There are 29 countries in the sub-Saharan and West African that speak French that LNDC can now interact with after adding the language in its website last week. Francophone world boasts of over 367 million people to the global population of seven billion.
At least 40 countries worldwide speak French as their official language while additional seven commonly use it though not registered as official. “Our number one mandate is to mobilise foreign direct investment,” Setipa said. Setipa said he is eying investors from France, Belgium and Switzerland and big companies established in French speaking countries worldwide.
He said “despite the turmoil of the global economy the future looks bright.”
Setipa said LNDC seeks to change the idea of Lesotho being a “supply centre” for clothing. Instead, he said, they would like to invest in companies and projects that will allow the industry to grow from a service provider to a manufacturer of clothing. He said “they are attracting investments that accommodate all entities that go into the production of clothing.”
In doing so, the LNDC will be generating work that sustains a number of local and other businesses. Setipa added that the LNDC also wants to pursue investments in the automobile production.
“Because of the skills that Basotho have acquired, it is possible to generate and facilitate the production of car leather seats. LNDC is trying to look at ways in which they can consolidate industries that were not traditionally a part of their investments,” he said. The CEO said “we are working on a strategy to boost services in Lesotho.” “This could potentially lead to investments in communication technology and financial institutions. The aim is to bring financial services to the entire Basotho nation.”
He said that almost 69 percent of the nation’s adults are not registered with a bank. “Among these people lay potential investors and entrepreneurs. This is one of the ways in which we can capacitate Basotho people in these industries, so that their projects are not only beneficial to the investors but also to the people.” He said one of the major downfalls of the LNDC is the little attention that is paid to small businesses especially the agricultural sector. Setipa said the LNDC is “changing the dynamics in the agricultural sector.”
He also talked about the great achievements that Lesotho has made in the industry. “Lesotho is the only country in Africa that can farm trout all twelve months of the year. The trout farming can grow, and generate more income if they start hatching eggs in Lesotho rather than in South Africa,” he said. These drastic changes come after Setipa led the private sector delegation that accompanied King Letsie III to Europe earlier this year.
Setipa says he sees potential in investing with universities that can provide Basotho students with scholarships. Setipa said “the future is not as gloomy as other people say it is.”
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