THE government has committed to rectifying long-standing accountability challenges in the country in order to bring back investor confidence, something which previous governments failed to do, Prime Minister Sam Matekane says.
business
Nov. 11, 2022
NEO SENOKO
3 min read
Govt commits to rectifying past errors
Prime Minister, Sam Matekane
Story highlights
PM says the intention is to attract foreign investment
Lesotho is looking at areas of renewable energy and agro-industry among others
He made these remarks on Thursday this week during a keynote address to development partners who attended his meeting.
Matekane said it is the priority of his government to account for all forms of assistance extended to Lesotho, be it technical, financial, or material.
“We are aware that some of you have been assisting Lesotho with many resources although the impact of such at times has not translated into desired outcomes. We recognise the importance of managing results and strengthening mutual accountability to boost your confidence in our accountability systems. We have since failed, hence, the withdrawal of budget support.
“Our mission as the incoming government is to rectify this problem and bring back confidence by implementing the recommended reforms, we have to strive for budget discipline, budget value, and budget accountability. How we manage the budget process from formulation, implementation, and evaluation for the financial year 2023/24 will either make or break the ability of this government to lead,” he told the partners.
He said his government is also aware that the landscape of development finance is dramatically changing in terms of volumes, trends, and composition. This, he added, is spurred by shifting international priorities such as climate change, geo-political conflicts, and pandemics like COVID-19.
These risks, erode traditional sources of aid and increase the competition for these scarce resources, he also said.
“Consequently, our intention is to ensure that all development programmes and projects are implemented on time and with the quality that we can all pride ourselves of and also enable you to report back to your principals at home. In this case, we are more inclined to making Lesotho great once more as envisaged in the vision 2020 and in line with the objectives of our NSDP II,” he said.
The National Strategic Development Plan (NSDP II) among others is focused on supporting inclusive economic growth and private sector-led job creation.
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It further seeks to strengthen human capital, build an enabling infrastructure and enhance national governance as well as accountability systems for improved service delivery.
In this regard, the country is looking at areas of renewable energy, agro-industry, manufacturing, infrastructure, construction, mining, and tourism as potential investment sectors.
“I, therefore, invite you to be part of our transformational journey as we seek to turn around the lives of our citizens for the better. Upon looking at our past experiences, in terms of alignment of development assistance to the priorities of the NSDP II, we noticed that the bulk of resources is generally geared towards the social dimensions of human capital, which accounts for the highest share of 67 percent of disbursements as outlined in the Lesotho Development Cooperation Report of 2021/22.
“In contrast, our first key priority area that focuses on private sector-led job creation and inclusive economic growth receives little assistance with only one percent directed towards this critical area in 2021/22,” Matekane noted.
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