MASERU, July 11 (Xinhua) -- Lesotho's Minister of Energy and Meteorology Lejone Mpotjoane has pledged that all Basotho households will have access to electricity by 2030, as the government moves to accelerate rural electrification alongside a major expansion of domestic power generation.
Speaking during a visit to the Mafeteng district, where Prime Minister Samuel Matekane on Friday launched the second phase of the China-backed Ha-Ramarothole Solar Power Project, Mpotjoane said the ministry stands ready to fulfill the prime minister's directive on universal electricity access within the set timeframe.
The minister told residents that Lesotho spends nearly 1 billion maloti (about 56 million U.S. dollars) annually on electricity imports, funds that could instead be channeled into national development priorities once the country achieves energy self-sufficiency. Boosting domestic generation capacity through projects like Ha-Ramarothole will ease this burden significantly and free up resources for rural electrification, he noted.
On the household connection drive, Mpotjoane acknowledged that many communities across the country still lack electricity but assured residents that the ministry is working systematically to close the gap.
The minister announced that the government has rolled out a new policy offering free electricity installation to households, replacing an earlier arrangement where communities pooled their own funds for connections. The Basotho people who had been saving through these community schemes can now redirect that money toward income-generating projects instead, he said.
He also pledged closer oversight of solar expansion, noting that the Lesotho Electricity Company board and management will monitor the project to ensure it is completed on schedule. Furthermore, residents of Mafeteng will be prioritized for employment opportunities created by the development, aligned with government efforts to ensure local communities benefit directly from regional energy infrastructure.
The Ha-Ramarothole project's second phase, a 50-megawatt (MW) expansion that will lift the facility's total capacity to 80 MW, is expected to generate about 95 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually and create more than 1,000 local jobs over its operational lifespan.
