By Mosa Mojonothoane
MASERU
Through injection of M101, 000.00 from Stanlib, Made In Lesotho Co-operative (MILCO) will soon start construction of its highly anticipated chain store at Sefika Shopping Complex in Maseru.
MILCO Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) ‘Makoena Lesia disclosed to this paper that preparations are underway for the construction of the people’s store.
MILCO is a chain store that will sell only made-in-Lesotho products and services in all districts of Lesotho and outside Lesotho. It is created by and incubated under the National University of Lesotho (NUL) Innovation Hub. It is a four-in-one store, that is, a Physical Store, an Online Store, a Wholesaler and a Marketing Platform. It is a legally registered retail cooperative that collects and markets Basotho products to international markets and helps producers through product testing processes.
It intends to have a warehouse and a market platform for local products and thus seeks to collaborate with experts in quality control, branding, product testing and the overall business and marketing industry to boost the standard of these products.
Asked to share her journey with this well-received initiative, Lesia said the cooperative is a manifestation of one of her biggest dreams for local innovators and producers.
Having worked with the NUL Innovation Hub since 2014 as a volunteering writer for NUL Research and Innovation, she says she dwelled on the struggles of Basotho producers in terms of placing their products in the right market after discovering the productivity in the country. Lesia revealed that her engagement with innovators through capturing and documenting their production stories was an eye-opening experience.
She narrates; “It all started long ago, but the peak was with the science show that was aired from 2019 to 2021 where I was a researcher, writer and a co-host sometimes. This project was a collaboration between NUL Innovation Hub and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), through their Enhancing Youth Empowerment for Sustainable Development (EYES) programme, whose main aim was to promote Science Innovation and Technology and showcase how Basotho use Science Innovation and Technology to create jobs through a televised show that was aired on Lesotho Television (LTV). This exposed to me how Basotho have taken up space in innovation yet they lack exposure.”
Lesia, who is also NUL Research and Innovations Committee (NULRIC) Secretary, further shared that from this role, she was intrigued as they publicized NUL Innovation Hub products and achievements. “This is where I then realized that every week when we posted about the products on social media, the common question was, where can we find this product? This greatly inspired us to establish MILCO, where now we have gathered Basotho products in one place, where they cannot compete with the well-marketed international products,” she continued.
Giving an overview of their performance to this point, Lesia said there is no visible gap between women and men producers, praising women’s engagement in innovation and productivity. She, however, said there is still a huge space for women and youth to occupy in innovation. “I guess it starts from our communities to find a solution to any problem to beat unemployment. If you can’t do it alone, find a partner, bring ideas to the table and start something that will pay you in a long run because there is a market out there,” she advised.
The platform is currently open to all producers for free marketing on MILCO website and social media platforms. As a prerequisite, producers will have to provide the name of their businesses, pictures of products and registration and testing information. A picture of the producer may be needed for social media marketing and a brief introduction of the product.
MILCO chain store construction in progress
Mosa Mojonothoane
MASERU
Through injection of M101, 000.00 from Stanlib, Made In Lesotho Co-operative (MILCO) will soon start construction of its highly anticipated chain store at Sefika Shopping Complex in Maseru.
MILCO Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) ‘Makoena Lesia disclosed to this paper that preparations are underway for the construction of the people’s store.
MILCO is a chain store that will sell only made-in-Lesotho products and services in all districts of Lesotho and outside Lesotho. It is created by and incubated under the National University of Lesotho (NUL) Innovation Hub. It is a four-in-one store, that is, a Physical Store, an Online Store, a Wholesaler and a Marketing Platform. It is a legally registered retail cooperative that collects and markets Basotho products to international markets and helps producers through product testing processes.
It intends to have a warehouse and a market platform for local products and thus seeks to collaborate with experts in quality control, branding, product testing and the overall business and marketing industry to boost the standard of these products.
Asked to share her journey with this well-received initiative, Lesia said the cooperative is a manifestation of one of her biggest dreams for local innovators and producers.
Having worked with the NUL Innovation Hub since 2014 as a volunteering writer for NUL Research and Innovation, she says she dwelled on the struggles of Basotho producers in terms of placing their products in the right market after discovering the productivity in the country. Lesia revealed that her engagement with innovators through capturing and documenting their production stories was an eye-opening experience.
She narrates; “It all started long ago, but the peak was with the science show that was aired from 2019 to 2021 where I was a researcher, writer and a co-host sometimes. This project was a collaboration between NUL Innovation Hub and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), through their Enhancing Youth Empowerment for Sustainable Development (EYES) programme, whose main aim was to promote Science Innovation and Technology and showcase how Basotho use Science Innovation and Technology to create jobs through a televised show that was aired on Lesotho Television (LTV). This exposed to me how Basotho have taken up space in innovation yet they lack exposure.”
Lesia, who is also NUL Research and Innovations Committee (NULRIC) Secretary, further shared that from this role, she was intrigued as they publicized NUL Innovation Hub products and achievements. “This is where I then realized that every week when we posted about the products on social media, the common question was, where can we find this product? This greatly inspired us to establish MILCO, where now we have gathered Basotho products in one place, where they cannot compete with the well-marketed international products,” she continued.
Giving an overview of their performance to this point, Lesia said there is no visible gap between women and men producers, praising women’s engagement in innovation and productivity. She, however, said there is still a huge space for women and youth to occupy in innovation. “I guess it starts from our communities to find a solution to any problem to beat unemployment. If you can’t do it alone, find a partner, bring ideas to the table and start something that will pay you in a long run because there is a market out there,” she advised.
The platform is currently open to all producers for free marketing on MILCO website and social media platforms. As a prerequisite, producers will have to provide the name of their businesses, pictures of products and registration and testing information. A picture of the producer may be needed for social media marketing and a brief introduction of the product.