Lesothan Ambassador to Ireland Paramente Phamotse exalts the virtues and recognises the challenges of his homeland
Lesotho is truly a land of extremes. It’s the only country in the world with all of its land lying at altitudes above 1,500m. It plays host to Thabana-Ntlenyana, which is – at 3482m – the tallest mountain in southern Africa, as well as the highest single drop waterfall in the region (an impressive 102m) at Maletsunyane Falls, and the highest abseiling cliff in the world at 204m. Its snow-capped mountain range the Maluti has even earned Lesotho the nickname of ‘the Switzerland of Africa’.
These mountains have also proved to be critical to the security of the nation, the best example of which being when founder of the Basotho Nation, King Moshoeshoe I, used the mountains as his fortress to defend his territory against other tribes in southern Africa as well as European settlers.
Today Lesotho’s mountains are home to the largest ever water transfer project in Africa, the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LWHP), thanks to the water that springs from our rocks.
This project involves harnessing Lesotho’s water behind massive dam walls, diverting the flow and transferring it through tunnels to South Africa to meet industrial and domestic water needs in Gauteng province – home to the populous cities of Johannesburg and Pretoria – while simultaneously generating hydroelectric power for Lesotho.
The project commenced with construction of Katse Dam, a 185m-high double curvature concrete arch – a striking piece of modern engineering, indeed – and later Mohale Dam, a 145m-high concrete face rock-fill embankment.
The second phase of the project, which involves construction of the 165m-high Polihali Dam in the Mokhotlong district in Lesotho, has recently been agreed. When completed, this phase will augment the existing LHWP supply of water to South Africa and supplement Lesotho’s hydropower generation capacity through the construction of the 1,000MW Kobong Pump Storage facility for both local consumption and for selling to neighbouring countries.
The construction of Polihali Dam presents limitless opportunities for discerning investors, but it’s not all about water. The mountains of Lesotho also hold the potential to house some of the highest wind farms in the world. And that’s not even to mention the wealth of diamonds in the majestic Maluti range, where the largest stone of this century was discovered in 2006.
This exceptionally high-quality diamond, named Lesotho Promise, weighs a whopping 603 carats and is also said to be the 15th largest diamond ever found.
Lesotho is making great strides in other areas, too. In gender equality the country has placed in the top 10 of the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap rankings, thanks to deliberate political reforms that include the introduction of quotas to reserve certain seats for women.
Literacy rates among women in Lesotho exceed those of men, with 95 per cent of women able to read and write. This recently led to the UK’s Independent newspaper crowing the country as the ‘best place to read and write’ to mark International Women’s Day.
Lesotho was also selected as a partner by the United States’ Millennium Challenge Corporation on the basis of its criteria of ruling justly, encouraging economic freedom, and investing in people.
Of course none of this is to deny that Lesotho still faces a plethora of challenges. By 2015 the country is poised to achieve only three of the Millennium Development Goals, namely universal primary education, gender equality and access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. The other goals still remain a distant mirage, but the efforts Lesotho is making will bring us closer to making them a reality.
As the Lesothan motto goes, may there be peace, rain and prosperity – síocháin, báisteach agus rathúnas.
His Excellency Paramente Phamotse is Ambassador of the Kingdom of Lesotho to Ireland.
