Indeed!!! --- You are right that there has to be balance between FDI attracting strategies and maintaining local ownership. This is exactly the balance in Lesotho. The country's reliance for sustainable existence being on imports (80%), Lesotho is a country open to and eagerly seeking foreign direct investment (FDI). Government, business, labour, and civil society leaders all strongly agree that attracting FDI is vital to Lesotho’s future, especially in the diamond mining sector because of lack of capacity on the local business people. Ordinarily and if things worked as proper as policies dictated, at least over 75% of the diamond mining industry ownership ought to be in the hands of the Basotho people with the government being the main stakeholder like what Botswana does.

Lesotho, as a small LDC faces various investment constraints which include inter alia, macroeconomic instability, limited access to credit, skills gaps, limited infrastructure, and policy uncertainty hence the way out is seen as prioritising certain sectors to foreign investment. It does not mean that Basotho are completely precluded from participation thereof but they lack capacity to meet the global market.

Source author: Malefetsane Dominic Mosala mosalalaw@gmail.com