Bereng Mpaki

BUSINESS mogul, Sam Matekane’s newly launched pharmaceutical company, Organica Global Brands, will have its products displayed at the on-going Dubai World Expo.

Mr Matekane said this during the launch of the company in Maseru on Thursday.

He said the move was targeted at ensuring that the company, whose hallmark is using indigenous medicinal plants to produce a range of health products, competes for the international market with its organic products.

The new business is part of Mr Matekane’s medial cannabis processing company, Verve Dynamics Incorporated.

The company adds to Mr Matekane’s vast business empire which has tentacles in aviation, property development, mining, hospitality and commercial agriculture among others.

Mr Matekane, who was in August 2021 named Forbes Best of Africa entrepreneur of the year, said the company would use organic plants such as cannabis and Artemisia (locally known as Lengana) among others to produce high quality health and wellness products. The products would be sold both locally and internationally.

It is in this light that he is targeting the Dubai 2020 expo which started on 1 October 2021 and is running until 31 March 2022. The first product range to be made under Organica is Covicare, which is designed to treat Covid-19 symptoms. He said they were close to finalising the products under the guidance of the Health Ministry.

“In a few days, members of the private sector and myself will embark onto a mission to the Dubai 2020 expo where I will be introducing Organica Global and COVICARE to the world,” Mr Matekane said.

“Our mission is to shine a light on the opportunity that lies in Lesotho in the hope of boosting and accelerating our economy. It is our hope that we can play our part in showing the world that there are good stories worth talking about coming out of Lesotho and that we believe there can be many more.

“Made with Artemesia or Lengana, and other indigenous plants, the COVICARE range will safeguard and help us deal with the harsh effects of respiratory illness and infection and create job opportunities for Basotho.”

He told guests at the launch that the new venture would empower local communities by sourcing local organic plants that will be cultivated and harvested locally to produce pharmaceutical phytomedicines, cosmeceuticals and nutraceuticals.

“Organica will revolutionise how we look at our health and wellness by providing everyday products that we all use that are in harmony with the gift of life.

“Organica will give you nature in a bottle. Be it medicines, health supplements, skin and hair care products, Organica has the capacity to meet the needs of the people and we are hopeful that we can meet the needs of the world.”

The company is helping Mr Matekane realise his dream of enhancing wellness through harnessing the power of locally available medicinal plants.

“Years ago, when I started Verve Dynamics Incorporated in Bela Bela, I had a dream that we could begin to enhance the wellness of our people by capitalising on the gift of life in the form of the soil and the plant life it yields.

“It was this dream, married with science and a love for the gift of life that I decided to start a business that will directly and indirectly improve the lives of Basotho, Africans and the world at large. A business that is rooted in the soil, that believes in sustainability of the planet we live in,” Mr Matekane said.