South Africa: The Lesotho National Development Corporation (LNDC) is the government of Lesotho’s Investment and Trade Promotion Agency (ITPA) whose mandate is to initiate, facilitate and promote the development of manufacturing processing industries, mining, and commerce in Lesotho.
An engagement to explore possible partnership opportunities took place at the ADA offices in Cascades, Pietermaritzburg. The purpose of this engagement is to try and establish an inter-Africa trade Partnership with the ADA that will focus on agribusiness and food security.
The LNDC priority sectors include Agriculture and Agro-Processing, Manufacturing, Technology and Innovation, as well as Tourism & Creatives. The LNDC envisages this collaboration as an opportunity and a strategic platform to leverage and carry its mandate of prioritizing the agricultural sector by developing integrated value chains of both crops and livestock. Lesotho being a fully landlocked country in South Africa, the collaboration is inevitable towards the development of regional value chains and positioning both countries for the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA).
Senior project manager Mushtaq Hoosen gave a presentation highlighting the overview of the ADA as well as some of the ADA-supported agribusiness projects and the role that it has played in assisting them. He touched on the following projects:
- Ntingwe Tea
- Rivervalley Farm- Crop production
- Copper Sunset- Goat production
- Lunginhlanhla Projects (Pty) Ltd. – Egg layers.
- LNDC Chief Executive Officer, Mr Molise Ramaili, together with LNDC General Manager for Investments, Ms Puseletso
- Makhakhe welcomed the presentation and further expressed that they have come to the right place and are excited for this partnership to come to fruition.
“I am happy to have engaged the CEO and GM of LNDC and look forward to exposing them to more of our catalytic projects, to learn from each other and see how we can collaborate and agree on potential areas of investment,” said the Acting CEO of the ADA, Siyabonga Mazibuko.
The engagement was followed by a visit to Rivervalley Farm, which is one of the sustainable ADA-supported vegetable production projects, for the delegation to witness physically what was being presented to them in the boardroom.