{"id":66870,"date":"2026-02-18T09:49:55","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T09:49:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/agricultural-manufacturing-sectors-expected-to-grow"},"modified":"2026-02-18T10:15:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T10:15:16","slug":"agricultural-manufacturing-sectors-expected-to-grow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/agricultural-manufacturing-sectors-expected-to-grow","title":{"rendered":"Agricultural Manufacturing Sectors Expected to Grow"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

What You Need to Know<\/h4>\n

Lesotho’s economy is projected to grow at a sluggish rate of 1.5% in the 2027\/28 financial year. However, the agricultural and manufacturing sectors are expected to see growth due to improved livestock practices and operational factories. The Finance Minister highlighted ongoing efforts to diversify exports, despite challenges in the textile industry due to AGOA impacts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Africa-Press – Lesotho. <\/strong> <\/span>Although the economy is projected to grow sluggishly at 1.5 percent in the 2027\/28 financial year, according to medium-term projections, the agricultural and manufacturing sectors are expected to register growth.<\/p>\n

This was said by the Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Dr. Rets\u2019elisitsoe Matlanyane, while presenting the 2026\/2027 Budget Estimates before a joint sitting of Parliament under the theme: \u201cAccelerating Economic Transformation: Building Resilience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Matlanyane indicated that growth in the agricultural sector will be anchored by improved livestock breeding practices, coupled with anticipated favourable weather conditions for crop production.<\/p>\n

She further noted that in the manufacturing sector, operational factory shells in Tikoe and Belo are expected to benefit the textile and other manufacturing industries.<\/p>\n

She added that there are ongoing efforts to diversify exports into regional and European markets.<\/p>\n

However, the Minister cautioned that the expected gains from these initiatives will not fully offset the decline in firms affected by the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), resulting in a worsening outlook for the textile industry.<\/p>\n

On mining, Dr. Matlanyane said the sector continues to face pressure due to global price slumps, oversupply and increasing competition from synthetic diamonds. \u201cMining fell sharply, with estimates showing a contraction of around 3.5 percent,\u201d she said, noting that pressures in the sector are likely to persist until global demand and prices stabilise, potentially limiting near-term growth.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, global economic growth is projected to remain broadly steady at around 3.25 percent over the medium term.<\/p>\n

Lesotho’s economy has historically relied on agriculture and textiles, with significant contributions from these sectors to employment and GDP. The government has been working on initiatives to enhance agricultural productivity and manufacturing capabilities, aiming to create a more resilient economy. However, external factors such as global market conditions and trade agreements significantly influence these sectors’ performance, necessitating ongoing adaptation and strategic planning to ensure sustainable growth.<\/p>\n

Find more news and analyses on Lesotho<\/span> on the Africa Press<\/span> website<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What You Need to Know Lesotho’s economy is projected to grow at a sluggish rate of 1.5% in the 2027\/28 financial year. However, the agricultural and manufacturing sectors are expected to see growth due to improved livestock practices and operational factories. The Finance Minister highlighted ongoing efforts to diversify exports, despite challenges in the textile […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":66869,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5],"tags":[484,1843,2869,245,7106],"class_list":{"0":"post-66870","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-all-news","8":"category-economy","9":"tag-agriculture","10":"tag-budget","12":"tag-lesotho","13":"tag-manufacturing"},"yoast_head":"\nAgricultural Manufacturing Sectors Expected to Grow - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Lesotho's economy may grow slowly, but agriculture and manufacturing sectors are set for growth, says Finance Minister.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/agricultural-manufacturing-sectors-expected-to-grow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Agricultural Manufacturing Sectors Expected to Grow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lesotho's economy may grow slowly, but agriculture and manufacturing sectors are set for growth, says Finance Minister.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/agricultural-manufacturing-sectors-expected-to-grow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lesotho\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-18T09:49:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-18T10:15:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2026\/02\/sm_1771409634.535494.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/agricultural-manufacturing-sectors-expected-to-grow#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/agricultural-manufacturing-sectors-expected-to-grow\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Agricultural Manufacturing Sectors Expected to Grow\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-18T09:49:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-18T10:15:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/agricultural-manufacturing-sectors-expected-to-grow\"},\"wordCount\":385,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/agricultural-manufacturing-sectors-expected-to-grow#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2026\/02\/sm_1771409634.535494.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"agriculture\",\"budget\",\"economic growth\",\"Lesotho\",\"Manufacturing\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"economy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/agricultural-manufacturing-sectors-expected-to-grow#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/agricultural-manufacturing-sectors-expected-to-grow\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/agricultural-manufacturing-sectors-expected-to-grow\",\"name\":\"Agricultural Manufacturing Sectors Expected to Grow - 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