Maseru, Mar. 19 — Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are expected to be the backbone of Lesotho’s economy, yet many face challenges that hinder their growth and sustainability, pushing business owners to call for more accommodating policies that will help play a crucial role in job creation and economic diversification.
While they contribute significantly to employment, particularly for young people and women, several obstacles limit their success, and those include limited access to finance where many small businesses struggle to secure funding due to strict loan requirements from banks.
Poultry farmers are among those that complain of high business costs, naming expensive utilities, rental costs, and taxation as some of the elements that make it difficult for SMEs to remain profitable.
Ms. Mosa Lekoro, a poultry farmer, mentioned regulatory burdens that include lengthy business registration processes and complex compliance requirements as a major discouragement in entrepreneurship, followed by market access issues, which she said many SMEs find it hard to expand beyond local markets due to competition from larger companies and imported goods. PM/TL
