The Minister of Trade, Industry, Business Development and Tourism, Mr. Mokhethi Shelile through the Competitiveness and Financial Inclusion Project (CAFI) launched the Horticulture Incubation and Training Centre at Mahobong in Leribe on Wednesday.
CAFI was established to accelerate economic growth and job creation in Lesotho, focusing on women and youth.
Speaking at the event, Mr. Shelile said the Project is financed by the World Bank and coordinated by the Ministry of Trade, Industry, Business Development and Tourism, saying it aims to increase access to business support services and financial products targeted at MSMEs and entrepreneurs, especially women and youth.
He mentioned that the CAFI Project is a successor to the Private Sector Competitiveness and Economic Diversification Project (PSC Project) which closed in June 2022.
He noted that PSC Project is a true success story, saying the project made significant strides in many areas of investment climate reforms and economic diversification in line with the Key performance area of the National Strategic Development Plan II thus enhancing inclusive and sustainable economic growth and private sector-led job creation.
He stressed that the CAFI Project will enhance the entrepreneurship ecosystem and improve access to early-stage financing for youth and women-owned innovative businesses through the establishment of an entrepreneurship hub and seed financing facility in Maseru and the hub will also capacitate up to 15 enterprise support organisations that will in turn incubate a total of 500 innovative youth and women-owned enterprises.
Also Speaking, the Minister of Agriculture, Food Security and Nutrition, Mr. Thabo Mofosi thanked everyone who made this project a success, saying agriculture is a centre of Lesotho’s economy hence needs a collaborative effort.
He stressed that this project will help Basotho in the long run, therefore, edged the beneficiaries of the project to work hard after the training so that Lesotho can be fit enough to feed herself.
On the same token, the Southern African High Commissioner, Mrs. Constance Seoposengwe expressed gratitude to be part of this launch. She said she is humbled to be speaking on behalf of the India, Brazil, and South Africa (IBSA) Fund for Alleviation Poverty, saying IBSA contributed to Horticulture Incubation Hub in Lesotho.
She said IBSA Dialogue Forum remains an inter-regional mechanism amongst three emerging countries.
Mrs. Seoposengwe stressed that the IBSA fund will focus on the pre-incubation program, which will be Phase I of the envisaged Lesotho Horticulture Incubation Hub and Training Centre that a number of key partners are already collaborating towards its development ensuring a sustainable horticulture industry in Lesotho.
The CAFI Project Manager, Mr. Chaba Mokuku said CAFI will work on improving the business environment through the digitalization of government to business services thus improving access to finance for MSMEs and enhancing the resilience of MSMEs to climatic shocks and disasters.
Mr. Mokuku added that it will also focus on strengthening the entrepreneurship ecosystem by establishing an entrepreneurship hub and seed financing facility linked to the regional ecosystems and diaspora community. The hub will prioritize youth and women-owned enterprises.
He said Phase I will focus on pre-incubation and a maximum of 100 farmers will benefit, adding that Phase II will focus on full Incubation.
The CAFI project is expected to run for five years and is funded by the World Bank and IBSA Fund
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Government of Lesotho.
