Last week, on October 4th, Basotho, and dignitaries from near and far away countries that came with well-wishes for Basotho, gathered around Setsoto Stadium in large numbers as the Kingdom of Lesotho celebrated its golden jubilee of its independence.
As speeches echoed significant progress the country has made thus far, the Independence Day celebrations served as a reminder of the long journey the country has traversed since its independence from British rule in 1966.
Of course, like any other country journeying from colonial rule to independence, there are bound to be immense developmental challenges faced by the country.
Challenges like unemployment, high levels of poverty, inequality, lack of access to education, health care and clean water, as well as other socio-economic challenges remain common amongst countries with a similar colonial past.
Could social entrepreneurship be key to alleviating some of these developmental challenges?
As the country celebrates its 50th independence and looks at finding ways to tackle these challenges, perhaps this is an opportune time to consider (or even re-consider) the impact of social entrepreneurship in creating jobs, alleviating poverty, growing the economy, and ultimately changing people’s lives.
Social entrepreneurship is, in a way, a survival tactic for the poor.
By definition, social entrepreneurship endeavours to systemically solve social problems using ways that are inclusive, innovative, sustainable, and scalable.
In addressing some of the stated challenges, many countries are embracing entrepreneurial values to mobilize people, resources and innovative practices in ways that will result in greater impact.
By virtue of it targeting social problems to solve, and its pursuit of social change, social entrepreneurship pushes up the priority list for any nation pursuing a developmental agenda.
Social enterprises, in particular, are permeating the mainstream consciousness and increasingly gaining recognition as catalysts of social and economic change in under-developed and developing countries.
Though social entrepreneurship means different things to different people, there is at least some agreement that social enterprises are organisations that have an economic, social, cultural or environmental mission aligned to public or community benefit; they trade to fulfil their mission; they derive a substantial portion of their income from trade, and re-invest the majority of their profit or surplus back into the organisation in the fulfilment of their mission.
The notion of social entrepreneurship does not provide a magic solution but rather addresses some of the constraints faced by charity-based models that tend to trap the poor in a vicious cycle of dependency.
Such models are employed by traditional non-governmental organisations or development agencies. It introduces slightly different business models and opens up different avenues of funding.
It also brings a motive of profit to the course being pursued.
Due to of its unique ability to mix social and economic objectives, it is better suited to respond to the multi-dimensional nature of social issues.
It also creates potential for empowering people to be productive and to take charge of their own destinies.

Who is a social entrepreneur?
Although there doesn’t seem to be consensus on what exactly defines a social entrepreneur, it broadly means an entrepreneur with deep social consciousness-oriented approach to business; one who applies business techniques or strategies to solve social or environmental problems in a manner that is financially sustainable.
Social entrepreneurs are inherently agents of change in their communities, and are driven by the mission to pursue new possibilities and opportunities for their surrounding.
It goes without saying, therefore, that social enterprises are often started by people whose passion it is to make a difference.
It tends to be less about the business and more about the impact the business will have in addressing social or environmental issues that captures their imagination.
In other words, as much as they make profits, social entrepreneurs measure positive returns to society.
Social entrepreneurship and the effect of self-transcendence
At the peak of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, in his revised expanded model, is self-transcendence — the motivational step beyond self-actualization.
Self- transcendence is a desire that drives social entrepreneurs to experience and serve that which is beyond the individual self.
Scholar Prof Saatci of Okan University’s Department of Management Social Entrepreneurship Research Centre, and others, conducted a comparative study on both social and commercial entrepreneurs, and found that social entrepreneurs tend to have higher scores on self-transcendence dimension compared to the commercial entrepreneurs.
It can thus be posited that self-transcendence could better unleash the potential of social entrepreneurs and facilitate their exposure to complex social problems.
Those who experience it are likely to be more alert to opportunities for social business innovation and to generate impact in tackling social problems.
The effect of the value of self-transcendence on opportunity recognition is pro-social and needs to be cultivated for socio-economic progress.

So why is it important to cultivate social entrepreneurship?
Social enterprises create an opportunity to address many complex societal problems, and like many other countries, Lesotho is in need of platforms for innovative and impactful solutions to some of the most pressing social issues.
Although these problems may be daunting for any society, there should be a deliberate embrace and support of social entrepreneurs tackling these issues head on.
In the eyes of social entrepreneurs are challenges instead of problems, and through challenges these entrepreneurs see opportunities to drive positive impact in their communities and to generate financial returns while doing so.
Cultivating social entrepreneurship is, in essence, creating self-reliance, self-sustainability and large-scale impact.
It is to offer opportunities to individuals or groups to use their ability and resourcefulness to create socio-economic value on a sustainable basis.
To illustrate this value, one may invoke the social wisdom “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime”.
Social entrepreneurship takes this further by building infrastructure to lay foundations and transform industries so that more people can benefit at a large scale in a sustainable manner.
Perhaps there should be recognition that social entrepreneurship is not a linear, uniform process.
There are multiple contexts, challenges and conditions in which it occurs. Equally, social entrepreneurs have unique needs and goals to pursue. The challenge, therefore, is for social partners to create an enabling environment and deliberately invest in the development of sustainable social enterprises that would contribute in realization of development objectives of the country.
There are different ways other countries are employing to cultivate social entrepreneurship. These range from providing access to an array of high-quality resources to help them achieve their objectives — both from the point of view of financial performance and positive social impact; to making available appropriate market incentives; research and development; training; and enterprise incubation where an entrepreneur is assisted in the form of developing a business model for the enterprise or preparing and linking them up with impact investors or other sources of financing.
Lesotho’s challenges are not necessarily unique to it. Development challenges are inherently too complex and require catalystic approaches that are multi-dimentional in nature.
Social entrepreneurship offers one approach, but needs multi-stakeholder collaborations and support spanning different sectors and communities for it to thrive and generate lasting impact.
l Fundisile Serame holds masters in Business Information Systems from Tshwane University of Technology. She is a Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) alumnus. She has extensive training in the IT sector both in the private and public sectors.

Business

Take a Break from Summer

Published

4 weeks ago

December 18, 2024

The Post

Press release for KFC Lesotho

Date: Monday, 16 December 2024

Summer, what a wonderful time of year…

When influencing gets too much

When the news cycle gets too much

When the endless queues get too much

When the shopping chaos gets too much

When the unavailable transport gets too much

When the holiday work shifts get too much

When the lawn mowing gets too much

When the loud music gets too much

When the traffic gets too much

When the relentless schedule gets too much

When the heatwaves get too much

When the weather warnings get too much

When the suntan lines get too much

When the ever-growing laundry pile gets too much

When the festivities get too much

When the 2025 university applications get too much

When the guests overstaying their welcome gets too much

When the social media mayhem gets too much

When the out of sync traffic lights get too much

When the New Year resolutions get too much

When the travel expenses get too much

When reapplying sunscreen gets too much

When the packing and unpacking gets too much

When the photo-taking gets too much

When the flies get too much

When the pool maintenance gets too much

When the fully booked airlines get too much

When the mosquito bites get too much

When the fishing trips get too much

When the baking gets too much

When the road trip stops get too much

When the sand in the car gets too much

When the picnic ants get too much

When the papa and morogo get too much

When the braai smoke gets too much

When the television shows get too much

When the homemade cooking gets too much

When the hot car seats get too much

When the outdoor markets get too much

When the air-conditioning bills get too much

When the nature hikes get too much

When the garden-watering gets too much

When the hot sidewalks get too much

When the bike rides get too much

When the late nights get too much

When the impromptu trips get too much

When the 4×4 rides get too much

When the golf games get too much

When the ice cube trays get too much

When the late-night crickets get too much

When the entertaining gets too much

When the bumpy boat rides get too much

When the paddleboarding gets too much

When the public pool crowds get too much

When the lack of parking gets too much

When the summer internships get too much

When all you need is a breather

You have made it to the end. Take a break from summer with KFC Lesotho on Saturday, 21 December, a day to pause, refresh, and savour the start of holiday mode. Swing by KFC for a taste of summer and officially step into the holidays, recharged and ready. See you there!

Discover KFC’s Summer Delights!

KFC Summer Twisters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVlAX00WROU

KFC Summer Krushers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpCn-tFYrls

KFC Summer Buckets: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbiOjRR58UA

End.

About KFC Africa

KFC has been in South Africa for over 53 years and has more than 1,300 stores across the country. The first KFC restaurant in South Africa opened in 1971 in Orange Grove, Johannesburg. KFC is the leading quick-service restaurant brand in South Africa with just under a third of market share, according to Brand Image Tracker. KFC serves more than 20 million customers a month and we work hard to ensure that no matter which of our restaurants they walk into, they will get that distinctive KFC flavour and have a great experience. KFC’s Original Recipe® Chicken was first made by Colonel Harland Sanders in 1940 when he perfected his secret recipe of 11 herbs and spices at his restaurant in Kentucky. Today, KFC is the world’s most popular chicken restaurant, still preparing our chicken with the Colonel’s secret recipe to his exact standards. Every KFC restaurant follows the same global processes and procedures to ensure that our customers get great-tasting food, every time.

KFC Lesotho socials:

Instagram – @kfclesotho – https://www.instagram.com/kfclesotho/

Facebook – KFC Lesotho – https://www.facebook.com/LesothoKFC

X – @KFC_Lesotho – https://x.com/KFC_Lesotho

Business

Demystifying death benefit nomination

Published

1 month ago

December 16, 2024

The Post

I recently attended a trustee training session, and it sparked a thousand of opinions and emotions to fellow trustees and principal officers.

It is remarkable how people approach their pension funds with a blend of care and chaos — carefully watching contributions grow but leaving the aftermath of their departure to luck and a roomful of trustees.

With the Pension Fund Act (PFA) 2024 in place, requiring members to fill out and update death benefit nomination forms annually, one would think the process is foolproof.

Yet, we find ourselves navigating the maze of member reluctance and the emotional minefield that comes with deciding who gets what.

The PFA 2024 makes an elegant appeal to order, asking pension fund members to take charge of their legacy by nominating beneficiaries.

But, instead of pens gliding over forms, there is hesitation, resistance, and in some cases, outright abstinence.

What should be a simple administrative act seems to invoke existential dread or, worse, familial politics.

When Nomination Feels Like Negotiation

One of the most notable trends is the discomfort married members feel at the mere suggestion of allocating 50% of their death benefit to a spouse.

For clarity, the PFA does not say they must — but logic and love might.

However, these conversations often spiral into arguments over “what ifs.”

What if the marriage does not last?

What if the spouse uses the money “irresponsibly”?

What if leaving an equal share to children or a secret favourite nephew makes more sense?

These “what ifs” often lead to another troubling “what if”: what if no nomination is made at all?

Emotions run high.

Sometimes, the process of completing the form turns into a reflection of unresolved family tensions, where the form itself becomes a battlefield for hypothetical posthumous power plays.

Trustees, meanwhile, are left to pick up the pieces, making discretionary decisions that almost always leave someone unhappy.

What the Law Actually Says

Let us address the elephant in the room.

The PFA does not dictate that anyone’s spouse, child, or distant cousin must receive a cent.

The law requires you to nominate beneficiaries but leaves the who and how much entirely up to you.

And yet, myths persist, leaving members to believe they are bound to make obligatory allocations.

This misunderstanding is not just inconvenient; it is entirely unnecessary.

The beauty of the PFA lies in its simplicity: nominate someone — anyone — so your trustees don’t have to piece together your
wishes based on tea leaves, distant

relatives, or that one time you mentioned something in passing to a colleague.

The Real Cost of Silence

If leaving decisions to trustees sounds romantic — think noble strangers making wise decisions — let me assure you, it’s not.

Trustees do their best with the tools they have, but without a completed nomination form, their decisions are guided by discretion rather than your explicit intentions.

And discretion, noble as it sounds, often breeds disputes.

Disgruntled beneficiaries are not just an unfortunate byproduct of silence; they are its loudest consequence.

Without clear instructions, your death benefits might fund lawsuits instead of legacies.

Is that truly the financial wisdom you have cultivated over a lifetime of disciplined contributions?

Completing the Form: The Act of Taking Control

Filling out the nomination form isn’t just compliance; it is an act of empowerment.

It’s the financial equivalent of saying, “I trust myself to make the best decisions for my loved ones.”

It’s an opportunity to assert control over your life’s earnings and ensure they benefit those you deem most deserving.

Let us put it plainly: by completing this form, you eliminate guesswork, prevent disputes, and protect your loved ones from unnecessary turmoil.

You also spare trustees from playing Solomon with your assets — a responsibility they never asked for but inherit when you opt for avoidance.

It is not that deep!

For all the effort we pour into overthinking, let’s consider the alternative — actually completing the form.

You’ve already made harder decisions, like choosing between investment portfolios or deciding on your retirement age.

Writing down a name or two, alongside their allocations, is, comparatively, a walk in the park.

And for those of you abstaining because “it’s complicated,” let us reflect: is it more complicated than the potential legal battles, heartache, and chaos that might follow your departure?

Or are we simply procrastinating because planning for death feels uncomfortably final?

Your Legacy, Your Way

At the heart of it all, filling out the nomination form isn’t about complying with a law or appeasing trustees.

It is about ensuring your legacy aligns with your wishes.

It is about giving your loved ones clarity and peace of mind when they need it most.

So, grab that pen.

Fill in that form.

It might not be the most exciting thing you do today, but it could very well be the most meaningful.

After all, if you’ve spent years building a financial future, why let your final act of planning be defined by inaction?

Teboho Makoetlane

Business

More US funding for development projects

Published

2 months ago

December 2, 2024

The Post

MASERU-THOMAS Hines, the US Embassy’s interim head, has applauded Lesotho for passing the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC)’s scorecard, paving way for continued development funding.

The MCC is providing assistance to Lesotho to strengthen good governance, economic freedom and investments in the country, managed by the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA-Lesotho Compact II).

The MCC donated US$300 million (approximately M5.4 billion) for health and horticulture development.

For the country to qualify, it had to pass the MCC’s scorecards.

Hines told Prime Minister Sam Matekane on Tuesday at the State House that the good news is that Lesotho passed, although there are some other things the country has to improve.

For this year, the passing indicators are girls’ primary education completion rate, natural resource protection, land rights and access and fiscal policy.

Indicators that slipped below the pass rate are government effectiveness and freedom of information.

“Of MCC’s 76 scorecards, only 26 countries passed while 50 did not and the good news is that Lesotho once again passed the scorecard,” Hines said.

He said not only did Lesotho pass but it has also improved from passing 15 indicators last year to 17 of 20 indicators this year.

Hines said the accomplishment reflects Matekane and his government’s commitment to strengthening democratic governance and fostering prosperity.

“Noting the decline in control of corruption indicator, we seek avenues to do more together with Lesotho to combat corruption,” he said.

“Not only does regression in this area put Lesotho at risk of failing the scorecard we also know the corrosive impact of corruption on the economy and society.”

He said they seek to maximise the compact’s ability to ensure greater access to quality healthcare.

Matekane said the scorecards assess the government’s performance in key areas throughout the year to determine the continuing eligibility regarding MCC compact funding.

He said last year he urged the cabinet to build on the momentum from 15 out of 20 indicators.

“Let me take this opportunity to celebrate our sustained achievement of passing 17 out of 20 indicators which is a 10 percent increase from last year,” Matekane said.

“Specifically, I committed last year to ensure that Lesotho will submit data to support the assessment of girl’s primary education completion rate,” he said.

He said he was pleased with the progress overall and on gender parity in education and they aim to achieve better results next year.

In addition to this, he said, there is still a lot of work to be done, especially around trade policy, government effectiveness and particularly the freedom of information with a notable decline from 83 percent down to 43 percent.

“Our commitment to control and eliminate corruption remains steadfast. We are working tirelessly to expose corrupt activities, keeping the public sector honest and accountable,” he said.

“The commitment we have made of investing in our people has never wavered over the years and the government is also focused on improving access to quality health services to every Mosotho regardless of their background and location,” he said.

Moipone Makhoalinyane