Lesotho, located in southern Africa, is a small landlocked country surrounded by South Africa. The country’s 30,355-square kilometer (sq km) land area is characterized by a rugged terrain, with only 10 percent of the land area considered arable. Lesotho has a high degree of risk to natural hazards, including floods, droughts, frost, strong winds, and heavy snowfall. The population's vulnerability to climate change is exacerbated by the fact that over 70 percent live in remote and ecologically fragile mountainous terrain.
INVESTING IN LESOTHO
CIF’s investment in Lesotho is through its Scaling up Renewable Energy Program (SREP). In line with the government’s Vision 2020 goals to increase private-sector investments in infrastructure and promote the increased use of renewable energy, the country’s SREP investment plan aims to enable the increased adoption of priority technologies — wind, solar, and small hydropower — through developing commercial on-grid and off-grid renewable energy markets. SREP funds will be used to support the first privately funded renewable-energy projects and provide technical assistance to develop the missing pieces of the enabling environment. Through the program, Lesotho hopes to have a self-sustaining market for on-grid and off-grid investment by the early 2020s.
