By: Reitumetse Mahloane
Maseru
The Basotho Enterprises Development Corporation (BEDCO), Prime Minister’s office,
Smallholder Agriculture Development Project II (SADP II), The Entrepreneurs Network, Ministry of Agriculture, Food security and Nutrition, the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Technology, the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Private Sector have come together in joint effort to launch the Basotho Flea Market initiative.
The Basotho flea market as an event will be a street activation held on Saturday March 30th 2024 along Kings-way Road Maseru, from State Library to Lancers Inn traffic lights.
The main goal is to provide a powerful platform for small entrepreneurs to showcase their varied range of products and services to a wide audience of prospective customers, partners, and stakeholders’ thus facilitating networking and sales opportunities.
This event is an opportunity for local businesses, artisans and craftsmen to present their products, contributing toward economic growth and community engagement. The small entrepreneurs interested in being part of this event have been given a chance to register online and book their stalls where they will be exhibiting their products and services.
According to Honourable member of the Parliament Mampho Tjabane, this event will give exposure to small Basotho enterprises. Not only are they being given this big platform to showcase and sell their products, but also they get to learn from entrepreneurship experts. Products will be tested as to identify those that are export ready.
A number of entrepreneurs will be taken to outside expos under incubation programs such as the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) and Competitiveness and Financial Inclusion (CAFI), for six months. Being under those incubation programs means amongst other skills these entrepreneurs’ organizations will be facilitated on a vast range of business aspects from book keeping to product testing etc. So as can be anticipated, “each entrepreneur is expected to bring their A game to this event.”
Tjabane says the event has been made this big in order to have a large market for the entrepreneurs to sell, as a way of supporting local businesses.
The Market Development Lead at BEDCO Makatile Rammotang also gives a glimpse on the Basotho flea market event, “it is going to be a continuous event that will be held every month end, to keep on supporting the local businesses.
An online market has been created, for those who are willing to sell online and for the promoters who are going to support the entrepreneurs virtually. He also mentioned that a team of volunteers will be at the event: from Ministry of Trade, Ministry of Agriculture and BEDCO.
Once again the government has made effort to support local businesses, a great initiative that will foster the country’s economic growth and bring the community together. Basotho products will soon go international, attributable to such forums. Not long ago, it was the Sebabatso program hosted at the National University of Lesotho (NUL), and soon it is the Basotho flea market. Hopefully there are more programs such as this because evidently building and improving the lives of Basotho, and the country as a whole.