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Volume 5, Journal 4 - August/Sept 2010
25 Degrees in Africa - Country Profiles
Country profile: Lesotho
After seven years of military rule, a constitutional government was restored in 1993. A contentious election in 1998 saw an outbreak of violent protests and a military mutany, which prompted a brief but bloody intervention by South African and Botswana military forces. Peaceful parliamentary elections were held in 2002, but the National Assembly elections of February 2007 were hotly contested and aggrieved parties continue to dispute how the electoral law was applied to award proportional seats in the Assembly.
Location: Southern Africa, an enclave of South Africa.
Climate: Temperate; cool to cold, dry winters; hot, wet summers.
Terrain: Mostly highland with plateaus, hills and mountains.
Elevation extremes:
• Lowest point: Junction of the Orange and Makhaleng Rivers, 1 400 m.
• Highest point: Thabana Ntlenyana, 3 482 m.
Natural resources: Water, agricultural and grazing land, diamonds, sand, clay, building stone.
Land use:
• Arable land: 10.87%
• Permanent crops: 0.13%
• Other: 89% (2005)
Natural hazards: Periodic droughts.
Current environmental issues: Population pressure forcing settlement in marginal areas results in overgrazing, severe soil erosion and soil exhaustion, desertification, Highlands Water Project controls, stores and redirects water to South Africa.
General economic overview:
The majority of government revenue relies on remittances from miners employed in South Africa and customs duties from the Southern Africa Customs Union. The government has, however, recently strengthened its tax system to reduce dependence on customs duties.
Lesotho’s economy is primarily based on subsistence agriculture, especially livestock, although drought has decreased agricultural activity. The extreme inequality in the distribution of income remains a major drawback.
The country, which produces about 90% of its own electrical power needs, completed a major hydropower facility in January 1998 and continues to sell water to South Africa and generate royalties for Lesotho. Although Lesotho’s market-based economy is heavily tied to South Africa, the US is an important trade partner due to the export sector’s heavy dependence on apparel exports. The trade benefits contained in the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act has lead exports to grow significantly.
Lesotho has signed an Interim Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility with the IMF (International Monetary Fund). In July 2007, Lesotho signed a Millennium Challenge Account Compact with the US worth US$362.5-million. Economic growth plunged in 2009, due mainly to the effects of the global economic crisis.
GDP (purchasing power parity): US$3.273-billion (2009 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate): US$1.643-billion (2009 est.)
GDP – real growth rate: -2% (2009 est.)
GDP – per capita (PPP): US$1,700 (2009 est.)
GDP – composition by sector:
• Agriculture: 15.9%
• Industry: 45.4%
• Services: 38.7% (2009 est.)
Population below poverty line: 49% (1999)
Industrial production growth rate: -4% (2009 est.)
Electricity production: 502-million kWh
Electricity consumption: 516.9-million kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity exports: 0 kWh (2008 est.)
Electricity imports: 50-million kWh, note – electricity supplied by South Africa (2008 est.)
Oil production: 0 bbl/day (2008 est.)
Oil consumption: 2 000 bbl/day (2008 est.)
Current account balance: US$1-million (2009 est.)
Exports: US$872-million (2009 est.)
Export commodities: manufactures 75% (clothing, footwear, road vehicles), wool and mohair, food and live animals.
Export partners: US 58.9%, Belgium 37%, Madagascar 1.2% (2008)
Imports: US$1.827-billion (2009 est.)
Import partners: China 26.3%, Taiwan 20.1%, Hong Kong 16.4%, South Korea 14.1%, India 9.2% (2008).
Debt external: US$581-million (31 December 2009 est.).
Information courtesy of www.cia.gov, to which full acknowledgement and thanks are given.
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