Economy Lesotho

sani pass on south african border popular tourist attraction.

lesotho geographically surrounded south africa , economically integrated well. economy of lesotho based on agriculture, livestock, manufacturing , mining, , depends heavily on inflows of workers’ remittances , receipts southern african customs union (sacu). majority of households subsist on farming. formal sector employment consists of female workers in apparel sector, male migrant labour, miners in south africa 3 9 months , employment in government of lesotho (gol). western lowlands form main agricultural zone. 50% of population earn income through informal crop cultivation or animal husbandry two-thirds of country s income coming agricultural sector. percentage of population living below usd purchasing power parity (ppp) us$1.25/day fell 48 percent 44 percent between 1995 , 2003. country among low human development countries (rank 160 of 187 on human development index classified undp, 48.2 years of life expectancy @ birth. adult literacy high 82%. among children below age of 5 years, 20% under weight.

lesotho has taken advantage of african growth , opportunity act (agoa) become largest exporter of garments sub-saharan africa. brands , retailers sourcing lesotho include: foot locker, gap, gloria vanderbilt, jcpenney, levi strauss, saks, sears, timberland , wal-mart. in mid-2004 employment reached on 50,000, female workers, marking first time manufacturing sector workers outnumbered government employees. in 2008 exported goods worth 487 million dollars usa. since 2004 employment in sector somehow reduced 45,000, in mid-2011, due intense international competition in garment sector. largest formal sector employer in lesotho in 2011. in 2007, average earnings of employee in textile sector $103 per month, , official minimum wage general textile worker $93 per month. average gross national income per capita in 2008 $83 per month. sector initiated major program fight hiv/aids called apparel lesotho alliance fight aids (alafa). industry-wide program providing prevention , treatment workers. (see below hiv).

water , diamonds lesotho s significant natural resources. water utilised through 21-year, multibillion-dollar lesotho highlands water project (lhwp), under authority of lesotho highlands development authority. project commenced in 1986. lhwp designed capture, store, , transfer water orange river system south africa s free state , greater johannesburg area, features large concentration of south african industry, population, , agriculture. completion of first phase of project has made lesotho self-sufficient in production of electricity , generated approximately $70 million in 2010 sale of electricity , water south africa. world bank, african development bank, european investment bank, , many other bilateral donors financed project.

diamonds produced @ letseng, mothae, liqhobong , kao mines, combined estimated produce 240,000 carats of diamonds in 2014, worth $300 million. letseng mine estimated produce diamonds average value of $2172/carat, making worlds richest mine on average price per-carat basis. sector suffered set in 2008 result of world recession rebounded in 2010 , 2011. export of diamonds reached $230 million in 2010/11. in 1957, south african adventurer, colonel jack scott, accompanied young man named keith whitelock, set out prospecting diamonds. found diamond mine @ 3,100 m altitude, on top of maluti mountains in northeastern lesotho, 70 km mokhotlong @ letseng. in 1967, 601-carat (120.2 g) diamond (lesotho brown) discovered in mountains mosotho woman. in august 2006, 603-carat (120.6 g) white diamond, lesotho promise, discovered @ letseng-la-terae mine. 478-carat (95.6 g) diamond discovered @ same location in 2008.

lesotho has progressed in moving predominantly subsistence-oriented economy lower middle income economy exporting natural resources , manufacturing goods. exporting sectors have brought higher , more secure incomes significant portion of population.

the global economic crisis hit lesotho economy hard through: loss of textile exports , jobs in sector due largely economic slowdown in united states major export destination; reduced diamond mining , exports, including weak prices diamonds; drop in sacu revenues due economic slowdown in south african economy; , reduction in worker remittances due weakening of south african economy , contraction of mining sector , related job losses in south africa. in 2009, gdp growth slowed 0.9 percent.

the official currency loti (plural: maloti), can used interchangeably south african rand. lesotho, swaziland, namibia, , south africa form common currency , exchange control area known common monetary area (cma). loti @ par rand. 1 hundred lisente (singular: sente) equal 1 loti.

lesotho member of southern african customs union (sacu), in tariffs have been eliminated on trade of goods between other member countries botswana, namibia, south africa, , swaziland. lesotho has received economic aid variety of sources, including united states, world bank, republic of ireland, united kingdom, european union, , germany.