Lesotho
Resources: http://www.eoearth.org/article/Lesotho
Resources: water, agricultural and grazing land, diamonds, sand, clay, building stone.
Natural Industries: food, beverages, textiles, apparel assembly, handicrafts, construction, tourism
Lesotho is a landlocked nation in southern-Africa, completely surrounded by the nation of South Africa. Lesotho is mostly highland with plateaus, hills, and mountains; more than 80% of the country is 1,800 m above sea level.
Economy
Small, landlocked, and mountainous, Lesotho relies on remittances from miners employed in South Africa and customs duties from the Southern Africa Customs Union for the majority of government revenue. However, the government has recently strengthened its tax system to reduce dependency on customs duties. Completion of a major hydropower facility in January 1998 permitted the sale of water to South Africa and generated royalties for Lesotho. Lesotho produces about 90% of its own electrical power needs. As the number of mineworkers has declined steadily over the past several years, a small manufacturing base has developed based on farm products that support the milling, canning, leather, and jute industries, as well as a rapidly expanding apparel-assembly sector. The latter has grown significantly mainly due to Lesotho qualifying for the trade benefits contained in the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act. The economy is still primarily based on subsistence agriculture, especially livestock, although drought has decreased agricultural activity. The extreme inequality in the distribution of income remains a major drawback. Lesotho has signed an Interim Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility with the IMF. In July 2007, Lesotho signed a Millennium Challenge Account Compact with the US worth $362.5 million.
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