Entrepreneurship Expo turns 4

Pheello Mosesi

Themed ‘Building sustainable value chains’, this year’s expo and summit saw both  young and old entrepreneurs motivated to show up at the mall and showcase their different products.

The Entrepreneurship Expo and business summit hosted by The Entrepreneur Network (TEN) Lesotho and BEDCO was celebrating its fourth anniversary.

Since its start in 2016, the expo has been held annually with 300 to 500 attendees to daily panel discussions and workshops.

“The expo is simply not only to showcase the work we do but also to celebrate the survival of our enterprises throughout the year. With the given theme, our quest is self-knowledge as entrepreneurs,” Thabo Steven Monyamane, Managing Director of TEN Lesotho said.

He added, “It was from the year 2017 when BEDCO stepped in by sponsoring up to 200 exhibition stalls for SMME’s to showcase their products throughout the Expo.”

The Principal Secretary with the Small Business, Marketing and Cooperatives Ministry, Lerata Pekane congratulated TEN and BEDCO citing that the Lesotho National Strategic Development Plan II has identified Four Strategic Super Goals which also form the pillars anchoring private sector development.

“These are meant to help Lesotho stay ahead of the challenges and harness the opportunities of the fast changing global and political landscape.

“Historically, we have big businesses that have been around in the country for many years. Small businesses have been facing major challenges which threaten their survival in the business spectrum. The value chain has always circulated around this big businesses and shutting out the small ones. Moreover, in order for them to participate in large project needed by it private sector or the government, they tend to miss out due to not meeting the requirements like tax clearances,” the PS pointed out.

He alluded that the key sectors of this year’s expo are Agriculture, Technology, Tourism and Manufacturing with the purpose being to identify and structure how entrepreneurs, innovators, technocrats, policymakers, cooperates, captains of industry and businesses in general could unpack and develop sustainable linkages in each sectorial value chain.