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Water |
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Water is Lesotho´s most abundant
resource as well as being the country´s largest single
source of foreign exchange earnings since the implementation
of the Lesotho Highlands. One of Southern Africa´s principal
water catchment areas, rainfall together with winter
snowfalls provides an estimated 5.5 billion cubic meters of
water annually and renewable groundwater resources of some
340 million cubic meters per year.
Supplying the Republic of South Africa with millions of
cubic metres of water per year, the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) is the largest and most ambitious long-term
water transfer scheme of its kind on the continent, and has
done much to develop the region’s water supply. The project
supplies water locally as well as to South Africa’s Vaal Dam
through the trans-Caledon tunnel. Water is transferred
through a network of reservoirs at Mohale, Katse and ´Muela
through the Trans Caledon tunnel and eventually into the
Republic of South Africa´s Vaal Dam. The Lesotho Highlands
water Project is responsible for Lesotho´s portion of the
project, with its counterpart, the Trans-Caledon Tunnel
Authority, responsible for the South African site.
Phase 2 of the LHWP is to begin in 2011, and will include
the construction of the Mashai and Polihali Dams as well as
additional transfer tunnels and the upgrading of the ´Muela
Hydropower Power Plant. At present the LHWP supplies about
46 million cubic metres a year, and the second phase of the
scheme will raise supply to some 70 million cubic metres per
year. The project is expected to be completed by 2019.
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Energy |
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The Lesotho Electricity Company (LEC) is
the country’s sole power utility provider. LEC’s customer
base as at July 2005 stood at just over 45 000, of which 350
were large power users.
 The pressing need to extend the electricity network in
Lesotho and connect more households to the national grid has
for many years been hampered by lack of funds. The
privatization of LEC was thus decided on as the only viable
solution to providing the corporation with access to the
necessary resources; expertise and technology to help
achieve this aim as well as improve the quality if service
to existing customers. In adopting a public service
concession approach to privatization, government remains in
partnership with the investors during the concession period
and retains long-term control over the assets of the
company.
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