business

June 18, 2021

STAFF REPORTER

3 min read

Chamber of Commerce fears for weak business

Chamber of Commerce fears for weak business

Secretary General of Lesotho Chamber of Commerce and Industry Fako Hakane

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LESOTHO’s business climate is mired in a myriad of challenges that make life extremely hard for the general population, Metro can reveal.

The Secretary General of the Lesotho Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) Fako Hakane blames the threat of the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic hovering over the country.

He said the pandemic makes life difficult because business is bad, adding that it is an undeniable fact that when South Africa sneezes, Lesotho catches the flu.

So, since the third wave of the pandemic has already been recorded in South Africa, which is Lesotho’s major trading partner and only neighbour, that means Lesotho’s problems are right on the door-step.

“Now we have recorded new COVID-19 cases in Leribe,” Mr Hakane said.

The National COVID-19 Secretariat (NACOSEC) has announced that Khethisa High School, in Leribe, has registered some learners who have contracted the killer disease.

Mr Hakane said this means the country is facing serious problems that put lives at risk.

He said health experts have already warned that the third wave is coming with symptoms that are different from the previous ones.

He said the factory workers’ strike also had a negative impact on the economy, though the havoc wreaked by the pandemic is worse.

He agreed that public transport ferrying factory workers to and from work suffered a lot during the strike, adding however that that did not have that much significance on the economy.

He said merely crossing the border to South Africa is costly for most people who want to visit that country for different reasons because they have to cough out money to make preparations such as acquiring COVID-19 certificates.

Mr Hakane maintained that since Lesotho is ringed by South Africa, anything that affects that county automatically affects Lesotho.

Faced with this situation, he said there is a dire need for the government to fast-track the vaccination process.

The government, he said, has to ensure that all the people are vaccinated against the pandemic in order to save their lives which are in serious danger.

He said the government has just received a second batch of COVID-19 vaccines for people who were vaccinated previously.

Yet there are still others who have not been vaccinated at all.

For Mr Hakane, the government has to do everything in its power to vaccinate all its people.

He said if people are not vaccinated, they will not feel safe in their country because their lives will be in danger.

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He was quick to note that the emerging political parties also have a direct bearing on the business climate in Lesotho.

“This is a sign of political instability in the country whose economy is already weak and fragile,” he said, adding that it is unhealthy for a country that has just two million people to have over 30 political parties.

Investors do not usually take their money where there is political unrest because chances are high that they could lose in business, he also said.

South Africa's media reports show that the Gauteng government is ready to support the introduction of stronger lockdown restrictions this week as the province struggles with an influx of new COVID-19 cases.

The reports further show that additional restrictions are necessary to help slow down the number of daily COVID-19 infections that are seen in the province.

 

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