Moroke Sekoboto
NATURAL Resources minister, Mohlomi Moleko, has confirmed the participation of the African Development Bank (AfDB) in the upcoming water and energy conference.
The event, dubbed Metsi Ke Bophelo Water and Hydrogen in a Digital Future Conference and Expo, is scheduled for ‘Manthabiseng Convention Centre in Maseru from 12 to 13 October.
The conference will be hosted by the Ministry of Natural Resources, with King Letsie III and Prime Minister Sam Matekane headlining the event.
The AfDB has pledged 15,000 USD (about M285,000) towards the cost of the conference. The event has, however, been condemned by some local politicians who are accusing Mr Matekane of seeking to mortgage Lesotho’s water for his own benefit, through the conference.
In a statement released over the weekend, Mr Moleko said the government was grateful for the African Development Bank’s commitment to be part of this ground-breaking conference.
“It validates our vision and says we are on the right track with the technologies that we want to develop, particularly green hydrogen energy. This support will enable us to secure experts, and we look forward to the bank’s contribution to the discussions at the conference,” Mr Moleko said.
The minister further explained the conference sought to develop Lesotho’s strategy to position the country as a “Sustainable Digital Hydro Nation”, and address four overarching themes emanating from the vision of the strategy, namely Water, Oxygen, Hydrogen and Digital. According to Mr Moleko, this would ensure easy access of these essential services by all Basotho.
“Water, Hydrogen and Digital for green, growth and development will unleash their potential to transform the Lesotho economy and move it out of the category of least-developed countries,” Mr Moleko said.
The conference, he added, would bring together key local and international stakeholders to discuss the existing challenges and way forward for fully harnessing Lesotho’s water resource.
“The Kingdom of Lesotho is committed to positioning itself as a crucial player in the southern African region and a champion of sustainable development, leveraging its abundant water resources, supported by hydrogen, digital technologies,” Mr Moleko said.
“We made an invite to ADB, and they responded positively that they are also excited, because they see that our vision will assist in the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals which every country has to achieve and abide by. It validates our vision that we are on the right track with the new technologies we wish to introduce.
“The purpose of our conference is to get experts throughout the world to come teach us and share their knowledge in terms of these technologies. Notably, you have hydrogen technology whereby the world is moving to hydrogen as a fuel source.
“For instance, to power planes and cars, so you can see that the world is moving towards hydrogen as the source of energy. With us having water, we have abundant hydrogen. But before we can do anything with that, we must learn about it. As such, we must host this conference where Basotho and the world in general, will be taught about hydrogen and oxygen so that we can see what kind of projects the government can undertake, which are also safe. The ADB have confirmed that they will support us financially to the tune of $ 15 000 (M 285 000)”.
African Development Bank President, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, has described the upcoming conference as an “innovative and ground-breaking event”.
In a statement, Dr Adesina further noted the bank believed the question of what Lesotho could do with its water was very important given that despite its abundance and the progress the country had made so far to reach its SDG targets for water and sanitation for all by 2030, there was still more to be done to achieve these objectives.
The bank, he added, supported Lesotho’s efforts to leverage its water resources, particularly the development of clean energy, and hydrogen in particular.
“As such, new strategies, based on new ideas to accelerate progress toward the SDG 6 and other targets, help Lesotho to leverage the value of its water resources; to use digital technologies to increase access to agricultural services, markets, and assets; and to meet the increased energy requirements of digital technologies through the development of clean, green energy sources, of which hydrogen offers strong benefits,” Dr Adesina added.
Meanwhile, besides the Ivory Coast-based African Development Bank, Lesotho’s water initiatives and the upcoming conference are also enjoying support from South Africa’s Senamati Holdings, Nexus Water Alchemy, and Masetau Consulting Engineers, as well as local non-governmental organisation, ReNoka.
However, the success of the expo and the water projects is not cut and dry as Mr Moleko puts it, for there is fierce opposition on the ground.
Just last week, politicians from five opposition political parties, plus a prominent member of the prime minister’s own ruling Revolution for Prosperity (RFP), convened a press conference where they berated Mr Matekane for seeking to “mortgage” Lesotho’s water resources to foreign interests.
The disgruntled politicians, who were calling themselves Concerned Basotho, urged the premier to halt the conference, and further accused Mr Matekane of wanting to dispose Lesotho’s water resources to a consortium led by South African “billionaire” businessman, Mashudu Ramano, whom they alleged to be the prime minister’s “friend”. They have vowed to stop the deal which they said was at the expense of Basotho.
Mr Ramano’s Mitochondria Energy Company has been engaged by the government to spearhead an ambitious project to produce clean hydro-energy to ensure adequate power for different economic initiatives in Lesotho.
