Investing in Lesotho

This section provides information for current and potential investors in Lesotho.

Potential investors: Getting Started.

If you are considering investment in Lesotho, here are some steps you may wish to consider as you get started:

• Read Lesotho's Commercial Country Guide here.
• Register with the U.S. Embassy – If you are planning a visit to consider investment, let us know by sending an email to MaseruCommercial@state.gov or SethobaneMJ@state.gov.
• Visit the country's resources, such as the Government of Lesotho’s One-Stop-Business Facilitation Centre and Lesotho National Development Corporation.
• The USAID Southern Africa Trade Hub (SATH) provides more detailed information on Lesotho's investment climate. Click here to view the SATH's Lesotho Investor Roadmap page. 
• Subscribe to our embassy Facebook page and Twitter feed @usembassymaseru

Current investors: Staying Connected.

If you are a current U.S. investor in Lesotho, the U.S Embassy wants to stay in touch. Here are a few steps you can take to keep the channels of communication open:

• Register with the U.S. Embassy – If you are active in Lesotho, let us know by sending an email to SethobaneMJ@state.gov.
• Add us to your mailing lists – we are always happy to stay informed
• Subscribe to our embassy Facebook page and Twitter feed @usembassymaseru
• Set up a meeting with our economic or commercial team to discuss any issues that arise 

FCPA

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) is an important anti-corruption tool designed to discourage corrupt business practices in favor of free and fair markets.  The FCPA prohibits promising, offering, giving or authorizing giving anything of value to a foreign government official where the purpose is to obtain or retain business.  These prohibitions apply to U.S. persons, both individuals and companies, and companies that are listed on U.S. exchanges. The statute also requires companies publicly traded in the U.S. to keep accurate books and records and implement appropriate internal controls.   

More information on the FCPA can be found here:  http://www.fcpa.us/

A party to a transaction seeking to know whether a proposed course of conduct would violate the FCPA can take advantage of the opinion procedure established by the statue.  Within 30 days of receiving a description of a proposed course of conduct in writing, the Attorney General will provide the party with a written opinion on whether the proposed conduct would violate the FCPA.  Not only do opinions provide the requesting party with a rebuttable presumption that the conduct does not violate the FCPA, but DOJ publishes past opinions which can provide guidance for other companies facing similar situations.

More information on the DOJ opinion procedure can be found here: http://www.morganlewis.com/documents/fcpa/
FCPAOpinionProcedureReleases.pdf (PDF 136 KB)