Lesotho is divided into 3 geographic regions;

• Lowlands, following the southern banks of the Caledon river and in the Senqu river valley
• Highlands, formed by the Drakensberg and Maluti Mountain ranges in the east and central parts of the country
• Foothills, form a divide between lowlands and highlands

Lesotho is also divided into 10 administrative districts, each district with its own town. The districts are further subdivided into 80 constituencies, which consist of 129 local community councils.

According to the 2006 population census conducted by the Bureau of Statistics in Lesotho, the population of Lesotho has been estimated at around 1,872,721.

The economy of Lesotho is divided into 3; primary, secondary and tertiary sector. The primary sector comprises of agriculture and mining and quarrying sectors. Activity in the agriculture sector is mainly at the subsistence level and efforts to commercialize the sub sector have been intensified. The mining and quarrying sector, (which is mainly sandstone and diamonds) has shown potential for growth since 2005 and has been increasing significantly until 2011. The limited growth to date has been due to some refurbishment of equipment by one of the three mining companies and a decline in the existing production. The secondary sector comprises of manufacturing, building and construction. Manufacturing sector surpassed the Government as the largest employer in 2012 and its contribution to GDP is significant. Building and construction is one sector that has currently shown potential for better performance. Private sector is actively participating in this sector and it provides a good platform for promoting property development to support industrial development. Lastly, the tertiary sector which comprises of the retail sector, telecommunications, real estate and government is another significant contributor to GDP. In telecommunications, an increase in the number of service providers brought about expansion of products, access to services and better service delivery. The rest of the components have been increasing consistently.

Lesotho’s GDP per capita growth has been estimated to increase from 2.3% in 2013 with an average projection of 3.2% in the next two years. Lesotho’s GDP per capita growth has been growing consistent over time except for the periods when it was hit by the global economic and euro crises.

The banking system in Lesotho comprises of 3 commercial banks (Standard-Lesotho Bank, NEDBANK and First National Bank), the Central Bank and some financial institutions. Commercial banks provide credit to businesses at competitive rates. Government and development institutions such as LNDC have signed partial credit guarantee scheme with banks to facilitate ease of access to finance.

RSA, Namibia, Swaziland and Botswana under the Southern African Customs union. As party to the Southern African Customs Union, Lesotho is part of the SACU-Europe Free Trade Area that allows SACU members duty free and quota free access for nearly all industrial products.

Lesotho offers investors a dynamic business environment complemented by a healthy Government administered incentive regime which includes:

Stability

• A stable social and political environment which is investor friendly.
• A free enterprise and free market economic system, which forms the basis for sustained development and growth.

Labour

Young, abundant, predominantly English speaking, literate, well-motivated labour force with a tradition of manual dexterity at competitive wage rates.

Market access

Southern African Customs union, Southern African Development Community, USA under Africa Growth and Opportunity Act, European union under EU-SADC interim EPA

Tax incentives

• 10% corporate income tax on manufacturing profit ;
• No withholding tax on dividends distributed by manufacturing firms to local or foreign shareholders.