Africa-Press – Lesotho. Basotho Enterprises Development Corporation (BEDCO) in collaboration with Nedbank Lesotho held a roundtable discussions to provide a platform through which women
entrepreneurs could highlight the successes, breakthroughs, opportunities and challenges they face in business. The initiative was in celebration of the International Women’s Day (IWD) which is
normally celebrated annually on March 8 and this year’s theme was ‘Celebrate women’s achievement. Raise awareness against bias. Take action for equality.
’ The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative Betty Wabunoha said women all over the world are defined by
societal expectations and perceptions, rather than the capabilities and value they may contribute to development. Wabunoha said in Lesotho, the legal and
policy provisions in the country are progressive, mainstreaming women as economic agents and to facilitating equitable participation of both men and women in development.
She said as a result, women in Lesotho are more educated, and more likely to start a business than men. She indicated that the FinScope estimates that 59% of Micro,
Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Lesotho are owned by women. “However, anecdotal evidence reflects that they are not immune to stereotypes affecting women as entrepreneurs, affecting their
ambitions, opportunities, access to resources, perceptions, and position as entrepreneurs,” she said. She added that women are still discriminated due to
sex, dress codes, and societal expectations. Wabunoha said encouraging women to start, sustain or grow their businesses requires a more supportive entrepreneurial ecosystem and increasing visibility of successful women
entrepreneurs. Nedbank Lesotho Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Manager Thato Phohlo, speaking at the commemoration, said Nedbank Lesotho has a department that works with SMEs
and they have also partnered with BEDCO to assist in growing small businesses. She further said they have worked with various industries including construction
and hospitality and they were amazed to discover that women have tapped into construction industry. Phohlo continued to say that as women venture into
different types of business, there are certain challenges they come across including financial challenges, insisting that banks are there to mitigate.
Mahlakapase Guest House CEO and Founder Matšeliso Mokuoane, highlighting the opportunities available in the hospitality industry, said owners of Beds and Breakfast (BnBs) can also include different activities such as
multi-cultural village, spiritual tourism and agro tourism, urging them to break the culture that hospitality is all about BnBs and conference halls rentals
only. “COVID-19 has taught us that soon usage of conference halls will be outdated since people are now hosting meetings virtually and this means we need
to start thinking outside the box,” she said. Mokuoane indicated that she has incorporated a gym and Spa within his establishment. She further said hospitality is just a support in the tourism, saying people
need to understand that tourism is a broad sector. BEDCO Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Idia Penane said she had always had passion to help Basotho women entrepreneurs to grow their businesses.
She promised that they will facilitate a mentorship programme for women whereby the young upcoming women in business can learn. “Most of the time entrepreneurs think the only
thing they need is support on bookkeeping or how to run the business but they forget they also need the emotional support, “she said. She indicated that this is a good network session which they will take as their assignment.
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