MASERU
PRIME Minister Samuel Matekane says collaboration and frank dialogue between the government and the private sector is key to reviving Lesotho’s economy.
Matekane was speaking at the launch of the revamped Public-Private Dialogue (PPD) forum, an initiative to promote proactive interaction between the private sector and the government on the removal of policy, institutional and regulatory barriers to investment.
The Prime Minister said the forum creates a structured, consistent and sustainable interaction between the government and the private sector.
The enthusiastic participation of the business sector in the forum, he said, is proof of their commitment to work with the government to deal with “the challenges hindering our economic growth and job creation”.
He said Lesotho’s potential as a private sector-driven economy can only be realized by “promoting mutual understanding of each other’s points of view and pain points, enhancing information flow, and ensuring mutual benefits”.
He noted that the forum would focus on improving the investment climate, arresting declining investment, enhancing the entrepreneurship ecosystem and eliminating government inefficiencies.
“By prioritizing these initiatives and fostering collaboration between the public and private sectors, Lesotho can unlock its economic potential and achieve sustainable growth and development,” Matekane said.
The ultimate goal, he added, is to unlock the potential for a private sector-led economy geared towards export–based growth and job creation.
The Minister of Trade, Industry and Business Development, Mokhethi Shelile, said the dialogue marks the beginning of concerted efforts to remove barriers to investment and economic growth.
Shelile said the PPD forum comes at a time when Lesotho is struggling to recover from the ruinous impact of the COVID-19 pandemic that caused business closures, stymied investment and triggered massive job losses.
Hundreds of companies have closed and about 15 000 have lost their jobs over the past three years.
In addition to capital flight, investors have been forced to put their plans on hold for fear of the escalated risk triggered by the pandemic. The result is that Lesotho’s economy, which had been sluggish before the pandemic, had been further battered.
Shelile said the only path to sustainable recovery is a “robust partnership between the government and the private sector”.
He said the forum would help “accelerate service delivery, scale up policy implementation and remove obstacles and bottlenecks” to “attract and promote both foreign direct and local investment”.
He said the forum is structured to allow ongoing and sustained engagement between the government and the private sector, adding that it goes beyond “traditional information gathering to agree on a set of challenges and consider solutions”.
“The design (of the PPD) also leverages a strong stakeholder communication strategy to sensitize shareholders and beneficiaries, share knowledge, advocate for change, increase ownership of agenda and improve transparency in decision-making,” Shelile said.
The minister also revealed that a Trade Facilitation expert has identified several problems in the coordination and harmonization of customs procedures.
The PPD is a subcomponent of the Competitiveness and Financial Inclusion (CAFI), a US$52.5 million project funded by the World Bank and the Lesotho government.
The six-year project is based on a comprehensive approach founded on three mutually reinforcing pillars: Enhancing Financial Inclusion and Resilience of MSMEs, Scaling Support for Entrepreneurship and MSMEs, and Project Management Support.
The project focuses on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), economic growth, employment creation, development of the private sector and poverty alleviation.