The country of Lesotho is expected to benefit from the $10 billion development fund that is issued by the government of South Korea through the Korea International Cooperation Agency towards the development and trade agreements between the South Korea government and the African countries.

This was mentioned by the Prime Minister Mr. Ntsokoane Matekane in a press conference on Monday while issuing out part of the content of the Korea-Africa summit which Lesotho took part in earlier this month.

In this conference, the Prime Minister stated that the aforementioned funds are expected to benefit African countries helping them in different sectors of development that will focus mostly on the creation of jobs for a period of six years.

Mr. Matekane also mentioned that Lesotho is also expected to benefit from the $14 billion which the government of South Korea has issued out to through the Economic Development Cooperation Fund with which South Korean companies are expected to invest in African countries.

He stated that from this fund Lesotho is listed and the aim is to look into developing the country’s energy production capacity at Oxbow, the establishment of the Lesotho-Durban tar road as well as turning agriculture into business across the country.

In addition, the Minister of Trade, Industry and Business Development Mr. Mokhethi Shelile said that in his capacity as minister he met with a number of companies such as Hyundai motor, LG electronics as well Samsung with the purpose of proposing investment opportunities in Lesotho.

He stated that since Lesotho is still facing a vast challenge in the textile industry, he also had an opportunity to meet one textile firm which is willing to invest in the Lesotho textile industry.

Moreover, the Minister of Information, Communication, Science, Technology and Innovation Ms. Nthati Moorosi said that as ministers of ICT from the African countries they learned that they are still faced with a great challenge of automated services as most services are still offered manually in many African countries which she said that they have learned a lot from the government of South Korea in terms utilizing technology. 

The Korea-Africa Summit commenced in June,04 to 05 in South Korea and was under the theme, The future we make together; shared growth, sustainability and solidarity.

The 2024 summit was a grand -scale economic event where major government officials, business leaders and economic experts will be brought together to discuss industrial development, trade expansion, strengthen food and mineral security and climate change as issues of mutual interest to South Korea and Africa.