About BEDCO

The Basotho Enterprises Development Corporation (BEDCO) is a parastatal of the Government of Lesotho. It was established as a parastatal in 1980 by a BEDCO Act No. 9 of 1980 (as amended). The purpose of the Corporation is the establishment and development of indigenous Basotho-owned business enterprises with particular emphasis on the promotion of entrepreneurial skills

Vision
statement

To become a partner of first choice in enterprise development.

Mission statement

To build sustainable enterprises contributing to national economic growth.

OUR MANDATE:

The primary basis of the 2021/25 BEDCO strategy is the Government of Lesotho (GOL)’s National Strategic Development Plan (NSDP) II and the MSME policy. The strategy draws from the first Key Priority Area (KPA) of the NSDP II, “Enhancing Inclusive and Sustainable Economic Growth and Private Sector Job Creation”. The outcomes under this KPA are depicted below.

OUR SHARED VALUES:

We shall be:

• accountable to the public,

• responsive to the people we serve,

• sensitive to the sustainability of our planet;

• professional and transparent in all our dealings

Strategic Intent

To lead and coordinate the establishment, development and promotion of sustainable Basotho enterprises focusing on the priority sectors.

Values

Our values are derived from the behaviors that we need to address and develop to support the implementation of supporting and growing the enterprise ecosystem in accordance with the NSDP IIs. They will be supported by a robust cultural change program that ensures that the behaviors of BEDCO staff are aligned to and supportive of the strategy requirements.

Key Priority Areas

Facilitation of the establishment and growth of MSMEs.
Promotion and entrenchment of an entrepreneurial culture in Lesotho.
Facilitation of the establishment of incubation services.
Advocacy for an enabling regulatory framework and appropriate licensing regime for MSME.
Enabling access to finance and markets.

Our Milestones

BEDCO aims to address the inclusive and economic growth and private sector job creation which has a target of 10,000 jobs per annum through the establishment, development, and growth of MSMEs.

In 2018 BEDCO received support from the African Development Bank through the Government of Lesotho under the “Economic Diversification Support Project – Promoting Enterprise Development to support the growth and development of MSMEs in Lesotho”. The project which is in its second year of implementation supports the development of Basotho MSMEs through 3 distinct work streams:

Assessing the current Business Development Services (BDS) market and developing a BDS market growth strategy.
Helping nurture start-up businesses and entrepreneurs through the development of a strategy and implementation plan for business incubation; and
Designing and launching a business plan competition to incentivise young and innovative people with credible business ideas to gain access to the required business support, particularly financing.

What We Have Achieved

Capacitation of ninety-five (95) MSME participants in business plan development in preparation for a business plan competition (BPC).
Award of seed capital to the value of M1,000,000 to 10 winners of the BPC at 100,000 each worth of goods and services to grow their businesses.
Ongoing incubation of the 10 winners using private incubators as part of the strategy to grow private incubators.
Capacitation of twenty (20) Business Development Service Providers (BDSP)s as part of the BDSP growth strategy.

We perform the following functions towards the fulfilment of our mandate

The development of a virtual incubation platform to provide various services and collaboration mechanisms to MSMEs and addressing the COVID-19 pandemic.

The development of a Market Access strategy looking at creating business linkages for MSMEs locally and internationally. Under this strategy a virtual EXPO was launched, and collaborations commenced with Canada TFO for market access for Basotho’s female MSMEs.

The development of an Access to Finance strategy looking at introducing a wide variety of traditional and non-traditional funding mechanisms for MSMEs. The strategy will be implemented in the 2021/22 financial year.

The initiation of an entrepreneurship promotion program which was commenced through a culture survey amongst Basotho aimed at understanding the major drivers and barriers behind the entrepreneurship culture in Lesotho. The survey had a response of 2994 respondents and will be used to develop programs aimed at improving the culture in 2021/22.

Capacitation of MSMEs using webinars in Access to Finance and Market opportunities, the use of E-Commerce, meeting regulatory requirements in business, innovation and strategy, and general tips from some of the more advanced entrepreneurs in the country.

The launch and Hosting of the First MSME Virtual Expo in Lesotho. This EXPO showcased various products and services from Basotho MSMEs in an interactive 3D web-based platform.

The development of a new business model for BEDCO aimed at improving its effectiveness in carrying out its mandate through the Institutional Review project also funded under the PED project by the AFDB.

Meet The Team

Board of Directors

Facilitation of the establishment and growth of MSMEs.
Promotion and entrenchment of an entrepreneurial culture in Lesotho.
Facilitation of the establishment of incubation services.
Advocacy for an enabling regulatory framework and appropriate licensing regime for MSME.
Enabling access to finance and markets.

Our Milestones

BEDCO aims to address the inclusive and economic growth and private sector job creation which has a target of 10,000 jobs per annum through the establishment, development, and growth of MSMEs.

In 2018 BEDCO received support from the African Development Bank through the Government of Lesotho under the “Economic Diversification Support Project – Promoting Enterprise Development to support the growth and development of MSMEs in Lesotho”. The project which is in its second year of implementation supports the development of Basotho MSMEs through 3 distinct work streams:

Assessing the current Business Development Services (BDS) market and developing a BDS market growth strategy.
Helping nurture start-up businesses and entrepreneurs through the development of a strategy and implementation plan for business incubation; and
Designing and launching a business plan competition to incentivise young and innovative people with credible business ideas to gain access to the required business support, particularly financing.

What We Have Achieved

Capacitation of ninety-five (95) MSME participants in business plan development in preparation for a business plan competition (BPC).
Award of seed capital to the value of M1,000,000 to 10 winners of the BPC at 100,000 each worth of goods and services to grow their businesses.
Ongoing incubation of the 10 winners using private incubators as part of the strategy to grow private incubators.
Capacitation of twenty (20) Business Development Service Providers (BDSP)s as part of the BDSP growth strategy.