The country of
Lesotho exports a number of commodities to other countries for earning foreign revenue. The various export products of Lesotho are clothes, road vehicles, footwear, food, wool, mohair and animals. As per the report of 2007, Lesotho has earned $779,100,000 foreign revenue through exports.
The export partners of Lesotho are United States, Canada and Belgium. About 81.9% of goods are exported to United States. Lesotho exported 15% of its goods to Belgium and 1.9% to Canada in the year 2006. The foreign revenue earned through
Lesotho exports are utilized for the economic development of the country. A major portion of the export trade of Lesotho is dependent on its manufacturing industries.
Given below is the amount of foreign revenue earned by Lesotho through its export trade from 2003 to 2006:
- 2003: $422,000,000
- 2004: $450,000,000
- 2005: $484,500,000
- 2006: $752,000,000
The export products of Lesotho go to the markets of SACU (South African Customs Union) that includes Botswana, South Africa, Namibia and Swaziland. Since Lesotho is a member of ACP, about 99% of its industrial goods are exported to European Union (EU). By ‘Africa Growth Opportunities Act’ (AGOA), the goods from Lesotho are exported to United States that makes access to duty-free and quota-free products from Lesotho. United States has about 295 million consumers for export products from Lesotho. Southern African Development Community (SADC) market has got 170 million consumers for Lesotho export goods. Western European (except EU) countries like Switzerland and Austria give allowance to the entry of some duty-free agricultural products.
Lesotho based companies have access to Nordic countries like Finland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway. In Japan, under the GSP scheme, Lesotho industrial products are granted entry. Either it is duty-free or a rate of 50% of the normal Most Favored Nation (MFN) is imposed on these products. Handicrafts from Lesotho get a duty-free entry into the commonwealth countries.
For any further information on Lesotho exports, one can get in touch with:
- Commissioner of Customs
Department of Customs
PO Box: 891, Maseru
Tel: +266-22313796
- Lesotho Revenue Authority (LRA)
PO Box: 1085, Maseru 100
Tel: +266-22313295/22313796
