Tsepiso S. Mothibi

There is a clearly visible gap in the economy of Lesotho and in the economies of other small or low income countries on the African continent. Reliant on the public service sector for the employment of the majority of university, technical and vocational studies graduates, the economy experiences the presence of an unanswered gap in its statistics when it comes to the calculation of the economy’s GDP per capita (the total market values of goods and services produced by workers and capital within a nation’s borders during a given period (usually one year)).

The main factor causing the miscalculation of this salient economic aspect is the exclusion of some sectors of the country’s economy in the planning infrastructures. One of the reasons could be the simple fact that the output from the informal sector of the economy is considered negligible, and therefore not worthy of the expenses associated with the planning and implementation of regulatory structures. The main question one can pose is: What if the output is exactly what grants the economy some level of stability? What if the simple livelihood practices of the informal sector street vendor are what offer some form of economic relief?

That the individual service providers in the informal sector are forced into finding some form of self-employment because their lack of education or resources means they are not employable in the public service sector or the private sector of the economy, does not mean that their contribution to the economy of the state should be ignored by the relevant economic strategic planning and implementation bodies. Their low income businesses do put some money into the taxman’s coffers, and the ignorance of this fact shows a stark lack of mutual understanding on the part of the economic planning bodies. A simple layman’s economic analysis reveals that any economy is a symbiotic affair whose components run in reciprocal patterns. In brief, if I am contributing to your progress, you should also give a hand in my struggle to gain economic freedom for the benefit of the country’s overall economy: the process runs in tandem and not otherwise.

A report titled An Assessment Of The Enabling Environment For Women’s Enterprises In Lesotho published in May 2011 by CILO Consulting reveals:

The small business sector plays a crucial role in Lesotho’s development and is identified as a key tool for economic growth, job creation and poverty alleviation. (National Strategic Development Plan, 2012-2017) The current global recession holds significant challenges and opportunities for small entrepreneurs in general and even more so when viewed from a gender perspective. Women generally lack the necessary resources for starting and developing their own businesses due to gender based barriers and in particular Basotho women entrepreneurs often still remain in the periphery of the economy.

It is true that women are the majority of the informal sector and many of them are involved in the running of SMME’s (Small, Micro, and Medium Enterprises). The small businesses the women run do not seem to be the core of the plans presented by the planning bodies, and this leaves one with the question as to why they seem largely ignored despite the tremendous contribution they have in the stimulation of the economy as a whole.

It can be argued that efforts have been made by relevant bodies in government to see to the improvement of these small businesses, but one can also put the argument forward that more can be done to improve on the current level of aid in the improvement of the informal sector of the economy that is largely made of women entrepreneurs. Such improvement should however not exclude their male counterparts who sit by side with the women selling fruits and other wares.

The main problem is that strategies tend to include only one gender and exclude the other despite the fact that women and men (and sometimes minors) work together in the small spaces on the pavements because in truth, there is a lack of adequate markets where these vendors and entrepreneurs in the informal sector can sell their wares across the ten districts of the kingdom. Flea market economies like those Kenya, Rwanda and other African states have could be used as models because their success rate in garnering the full potential of the informal sector is truly commendable.

Economic planning strategies should include factors which include the informal sector because a developing country such as Lesotho with high unemployment rates, low levels of formal and higher education, the migration of individuals from rural areas to cities, corporate restructuring and government policies, regulations that include all sectors of the economy and their structures are vital in the determination of total economic output of the state.

Lesotho has an urgent need for entrepreneurs in the small, micro and medium enterprises (SMME’s) who can act as a tool to combat unemployment and crime and to stimulate the economy as a whole. That the entrepreneurs in the informal sector lack funding to see their business thrive is the result of many factors that could be corrected. In a business research paper by an MBA graduate it is shown that many of the vendors involved in SMME’s lack the knowledge on how to map out their business plans, how to get loans from creditors, many lack collateral, and the biggest factor is that they lack adequate education and guidance in the core aspects of running small businesses.

There are far too many lacks, and I believe that it is the responsibility of economic planning bodies to see to the education of the members of the informal sector in the basic aspects of entrepreneurship. Just assuming that they will not learn from the lessons given is a misconception, because close contact with some of them soon reveals that a majority are possessive of a high business principle and acumen. The only factor preventing their progress is the fact that they feel ignored and excluded when it comes to national economic planning strategies and budgets.

Lesotho ranks at 112, 8 points higher than South Africa (at 120) when it comes to the assessment of the ease of starting a business presented by the World Bank (2016). The only difference is that many businesses do not last long due lack of support in terms of fiscal or knowledge base and soon collapse. This is a trend which can be reversed if more focus is put on implementing policies that govern, support, and regulate the running of the informal industrial sector of the economy.

Many economies fall into what is called the middle-income trap which is a situation where an economy seems to grow rapidly and then collapses due to certain internal and external factors (take Lesotho in the pre-1998 era for example), that affect this initial growth and productivity. Lesotho has relied on imported goods, services, technologies, and knowledge for too long, and the ‘bright light’ effect (where people from the rural areas come to the cities) has seen to the death of the agricultural sector of the economy, due to the simple reason that many of those that leave the rural areas come to the city to find employment in the informal sector.

Upon entering the sector, they thrive for some time before competition largely caused by the lack of variety in terms of the goods and services demanded by the market soon wears them out, and they are left stagnated in a low-income trap, leaving many to settle for low-income jobs. If they could just find innovative means to improve their business or entrepreneurial acumen, they could prevent this situation but lack the knowledge and support to change their situation.

Instead of copying strategies from other countries, economic planning could rather resort to finding alternatives that will diversify the economy, so that those engaged in production activities could have some form of escape as soon as they realise that the market they are engaged in is saturated. A report presented by the World Bank’s Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Network (PREM-November 2012) states that:

The common view is that imitating available (imported) techniques is an easier task than true innovation.

The report further states that as soon as those techniques are understood, the need for new technologies arises, leaving the adopter stuck. I have seen how economic policies put focus on science and technology, large-scale industry, and other modern forms of production at the exclusion of indigenous knowledge techniques used in the informal sector. But they are not serving the country’s economy well because they take too long for one to fully understand them. I just believe more focus should be on the informal sector because that is where the majority of economic activity takes place. If we carry on pretending they are invisible even though we engage with them on a daily basis, it will take long before the economy grows significantly for all citizens to reap of its fruits.

Insight

Down in the Dump: Conclusion

Published

2 months ago

December 2, 2024

The Post

I closed last week by recording the dreadful news that trashy Trump had been elected called to mind WB Yeats’s poem “The Second Coming.” This is the poem whose opening lines gave Chinua Achebe the phrase “things fall apart.”

Yeats observes “Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold / Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.”

It was written in 1919 and controversially uses Christian imagery relating to the Apocalypse and the Second Coming to reflect on the atmosphere in Europe following the slaughter of the First World War and the devastating flu epidemic that followed this.

It also reflects on the Irish War of Independence against British rule.

In lines that I can now read as if applying to the recent American election, Yeats mourns: “The best lack all conviction, while the worst / Are full of passionate intensity.”

And then I can visualise Trump in the poem’s closing lines: “What rough beast is this, its hour come round at last, / Slouching towards Bethlehem to be born?”

Trump is certainly a rough beast and isn’t the choice of verb, slouching, just perfect? For a non-allegorical account of the threat posed by the Dump, I can’t do better than to quote (as I often do) that fine South African political journalist, Will Shoki. In his words: “Trump’s administration simply won’t care about Palestinians, about the DRC, about the Sudanese.

It will be indifferent to the plight of the downtrodden and the oppressed, who will be portrayed as weak and pathetic. And it will give carte blanche [that is, free rein] to despotism and tyranny everywhere.

Not even social media, that once revered third-space we associated with subversion and revolution in the first quarter of the 21st century can save us because Silicon Valley is in Trump’s back pocket.”

So what follows the triumph of the Dump? We can’t just sit down and moan and bemoan. In a more recent piece of hers than the one I quoted last week, Rebecca Solnit has observed: “Authoritarians like Trump love fear, defeatism, surrender. Do not give them what they want . . . We must lay up supplies of love, care, trust, community and resolve — so we may resist the storm.”

Katt Lissard tells me that on November 7th following the confirmation of the election result, in the daytime and well into the evening in Manhattan, New York, there was a large demonstration in support of the immigrants Trump despises.

And a recent piece by Natasha Lennard gives us courage in its title “The Answer to Trump’s Victory is Radical Action.”

So, my Basotho readers, how about the peaceful bearing of some placards in front of the US Embassy in Maseru? Because the Dump doesn’t like you guys and gals one little bit.

One last morsel. I had intended to end this piece with the above call to action, but can’t resist quoting the following comment from the New York Times of November 13th on Trump’s plans to appoint his ministers.

I’m not sure a satirical gibe was intended (the clue is in the repeated use of the word “defence”), but it made me guffaw nonetheless. “Trump will nominate Pete Hegseth, a Fox News host with no government experience, as his defence secretary. Hegseth has often defended Trump on TV.” You see, it’s all about the Dump.

Chris Dunton is a former Professor of English and Dean of Humanities at the National University of Lesotho.

Insight

A question of personal gain

Published

2 months ago

November 26, 2024

The Post

Recently, an audio recording featuring the distressed MP for Thaba-Bosiu Constituency, Joseph Malebaleba, circulated on social media. The MP appears to have spent a sleepless night, struggling with the situation in which he and his associates from the Revolution for Prosperity (RFP) party were denied a school feeding tender valued at M250 million per annum.

In 2022, Lesotho’s political landscape underwent a significant shift with the emergence of the RFP led by some of the country’s wealthiest individuals. Among them was Samuel Ntsokoane Matekane, arguably one of the richest people in Lesotho, who took the helm as the party’s leader and ultimately, the Prime Minister of Lesotho.

The RFP’s victory in the general election raised eyebrows, and their subsequent actions have sparked concerns about the motivations behind their involvement in politics.

In an interview with an American broadcasting network just after he won the elections, Matekane made a striking statement, proclaiming that he would run Lesotho exactly as he runs his business.

At first glance, many thought he was joking, but as time has shown, his words were far from an idle threat. In the business world, the primary goal is to maximize profits, and it appears that the RFP is adopting a similar approach to governance.

Behind the scenes, alarming developments have been unfolding. A communication from an RFP WhatsApp group revealed a disturbing request from the Minister of Communications, Nthati Moorosi, who asked if anyone in the group had a construction business and could inbox her.

This raises questions about the RFP’s focus on using government resources to benefit their own business interests.

The government has been embroiled in a series of scandals that have raised serious concerns about the ethical conduct of its officials. Recent reports have revealed shocking incidents of misuse of public funds and conflicts of interest among key government figures.

Over the past two years, the RFP has been accused of awarding government contracts to companies affiliated with their members, further solidifying concerns about their self-serving agenda. For instance, vehicles purchased for the police were allegedly sourced from suppliers connected to a Minister’s son and MP.

The MP for Peka, Mohopoli Monokoane, was found to have hijacked fertiliser intended to support impoverished farmers, diverting crucial resources away from those in need for personal gain.

Such actions not only betray the trust of the public but also have a direct impact on the livelihoods of vulnerable communities. Monokoane appeared before the courts of law this week.

While farmers voice their concerns regarding fertiliser shortages, it seems that Bishop Teboho Ramela of St. Paul African Apostolic Church, who is also a businessman, is allegedly involved in a corrupt deal concerning a M10 million fertilizer allocation, benefiting from connections with wealthy individuals in government.

The procurement of fertiliser appears to be mired in controversy; recall that the Minister of Agriculture, Food Security and Nutrition, Thabo Mofosi, was also implicated in the M43 million tender.

The renovation of government buildings with elaborate lighting systems was contracted to a company owned by the son of an MP. The RFP’s enthusiasm for infrastructure development, specifically road construction and maintenance, is also tainted by self-interest, as they have companies capable of performing these tasks and supplying the necessary materials, such as asphalt.

Minister Moteane finds himself in a compromising situation regarding a lucrative M100 million airport tender that was awarded to his former company. Ministers have even gone so far as to award themselves ownership of diamond mines.

Meanwhile, the nation struggles with national identification and passport shortages, which according to my analysis the RFP seems hesitant to address until they can find a way to partner with an international company that will benefit their own interests.

The people of Lesotho are left wondering if their leaders are truly committed to serving the nation or simply lining their own pockets. As the RFP’s grip on power tightens, the consequences for Lesotho’s democracy and economy hang precariously in the balance.

It is imperative that citizens remain vigilant and demand transparency and accountability from their leaders, lest the nation slide further into an era of self-serving governance.

In conclusion, the RFP’s dominance has raised serious concerns about the motives behind their involvement in politics. The apparent prioritisation of personal profit over public welfare has sparked widespread disillusionment and mistrust among the population.

As Lesotho navigates this critical juncture, it is essential that its leaders are held accountable for their actions and that the nation’s best interests are placed above those of individuals.

Only through collective effort and a strong commitment to transparency and accountability can Lesotho ensure a brighter future for all its citizens.

Ramahooana Matlosa

Insight

Down in the Dump: Part One

Published

2 months ago

November 26, 2024

The Post

Attentive readers will recall that some weeks ago, I scribbled a series of pieces on elections due to be held in the UK, France, South Africa, and the USA. These elections were unusually critical for the well-being of their countries and even that of the world.

The results of the last of these elections are now with us and we are faced with the devastating news that Donald Trump is heading back to the White House.

I can hardly think of worse news to swallow or to equip the world to survive the years ahead.

The Dump, as I call him, is one of the most odious, dangerous, untrustworthy individuals currently inhabiting planet Earth. To cite a few of his demerits: he is a convicted felon; he believes climate change is a hoax; he is a sexist and a racist (one of his former military advisers has gone so far as to describe him as a fascist).

He is a snuggle buddy of the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and will probably discontinue aid to Ukraine as it resists invasion by Russia. Western European allies such as France, Germany and the UK are dismayed at his victory, as he holds the principles of democracy and constitutionalism in contempt.

As for Africa, well, he once described it as a “shit country,” so don’t look forward to much support from him.

Readers who spent time at the NUL will remember my dear colleague Katt Lissard who is now back home in New York. She spent some years with us as a Professor specialising in Theatre studies and was the Artistic Director of our international Winter / Summer Institute for Theatre for Development.

Many activists in the USA like Katt, who don’t see themselves as part of the political mainstream, chose to campaign for the Democrats and Kamala Harris in the hope of keeping Trump and the far right out of power. Confronted with the news of Trump’s victory, she sent an email to friends noting this was “just a brief check-in from the incomprehensible USA.”

She then explained: “We’re in shock and the early days of processing, but white supremacy, misogyny and anti-immigrant bias are alive and well and driving the boat here.” So, how do Katt and millions of decent, like-minded Americans plan to weather the storm?

Katt explained: “We were deeply depressed and deeply furious as it became clear that one of the worst human beings on the planet was going back to the White House, but we are still breathing and know that we will in the days ahead begin to formulate plans and strategies—and not just for heading north across the Canadian border.”

Picking up on that last point, it may well be that many decent Americans might just up and off across the border; Canada had better prepare for an avalanche of applications for residence permits.

And not just from Americans; in, for example, the American university system alone there are many many Africans employed in high positions (Professors and such-like), who must now face the fact they are living in a country whose leader despises them and who may opt to get out.

In her email written to her friends, once the news from hell had been confirmed, Katt quoted a piece by Rebecca Solnit, one of the most exciting writers at work in the USA today (readers may remember that I have previously reviewed two of her books for this newspaper, Whose Story is This? and Recollections of My Non-Existence).

Now Solnit is a feminist and at the heart of her work is a dissection of the way women have been marginalised in the USA (let’s remember that Kamala Harris, the Presidential candidate who lost to Trump, did so partly because so many American males could not bring themselves to vote for a woman.

I am thinking of the kind of male who invaded the White House when it was announced Trump had lost the 2020 election, bare-chested and wearing cow-horn helmets on their numbskull heads).

Solnit has this to say on our response to the Trump victory: “They want you to feel powerless and to surrender and to let them trample everything and you are not going to let them.

You are not giving up and neither am I. The fact that we cannot save everything does not mean we cannot save anything and everything we can save is worth saving.

You may need to grieve or scream or take time off, but you have a role no matter what, and right now good friends and good principles are worth gathering in.

Remember what you love. Remember what loves you. Remember in this tide of hate what love is.” And then: “A lot of us are going to resist by building solidarity and sanctuary.”

What is so morale-boosting about Solnit’s piece is not just her vision but also her command of language.
Her writing is so crisp and elegant. Language comes at us at its best, of course, in literature, and when I heard that the Dump was on the move back to the White House, I immediately recalled one of the most startling poems in the English language, “The Second Coming” by the Irish poet WB Yeats.

I’ll kick off with that next week.

To be concluded

Chris Dunton