ABOUT BEDCO

we grow business

The Basotho Enterprises Development Corporation (BEDCO) is a parastatal of the Government of Lesotho. It was established as a parastatal in 1980 by a BEDCO Act No. 9 of 1980 (as amended).

It was placed under the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Cooperatives and Marketing (MTICM).

GOVERNANCE The affairs of the Corporation are managed and governed by a Board of Directors through the Chief Execu-tive Of�icer who is the head of the Corporation. The Board is appointed by the Minister of Trade and Industry, Cooperatives and Marketing.

VISION STATEMENTTo become a partner of �irst choice in enterprise development

MISSION STATEMENTTo build sustainable enterprises contributing to national economic growth

WHAT IS BEDCO?

OUR SHARED VALUES:We shall be: • accountable to the public, • responsive to the people we serve, • sensitive to the sustainability of our planet; • professional and transparent in all our dealings

ACCOUNTABILITY

OUR MANDATEThe purpose of the Corporation is the es-tablishment and development of indige-nous Basotho-owned business enterprises with particular emphasis on the promotion of entrepreneurial skills

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WHAT WE DO?Business Advisory Services

Business Training

■Corporate Consultancy Services BEDCO helps prospective enterpreneurs that have ideas which they want to develop into business ideas. This is done free of charge.

■ Business Germination BEDCO assists entrepreneurs with skills on how to turn their business ideas into action. This takes the form of advisory in modalities for starting a business

■ Entrepreneurship Development BEDCO builds the capacity of entrepreneurs by equipping them with the requisite entrepreneurial skills needed to start, operate and grow their businesses.

■ Preparation of Financial RecordsBEDCO helps businesses on how to prepare books of �irst entry - cash-book, purchases journal, debtors and creditors accounts as well as the ledger book. This helps them when they look for funding and to keep their businesses in good �inancial standing.

■ Strategic Planning The Corporation trains entrepreneurs on how to develop strategic plans, which act as road-maps that businesses will follow

■ Production Management The Corporation equips entrepreneurs with skills on how to produce effectively and efficiently

■ Risk Management BEDCO trains entrepreneurs on how to identify, manage and minimise risks, be it financial or operational

■ People Management BEDCO trains entrepreneurs on how to handle various publics with whom they come into contact - their clients, customers and their potential consumers

■ Tax Education BEDCO teaches entrepreneurs on the need for tax compli-ance and how to do so

■ Financial Management The Corporation trains entrepreneurs on basic accounting skills and how to keep financial books at a basic level

■ Management & Leadership BEDCO trains entrepreneurs on how to lead and man-age their businesses properly for improved efficiency and sustainability

■ Company RegistrationBEDCO helps businesses register as legitimate entities.

■ Franchising BEDCO helps businesses expand into franchises that have units in various places.

■ Preparation of Business PlansBEDCO assists entrepreneurs with development of busi-ness plans that they can sell to banks in search for fund-ing opportunities

Business Support Services

Technical Skills Training

■ Business Coaching From-time-to-time, BEDCO coaches and mentours en-trepreneurs on how to run and manage their businesses■ Development of Clusters BEDCO develops clusters of entrepreneurs so that it is able to work with them efficiently ■ Business Accommodation BEDCO rents out its incubation centres to entrepreneurs as a way of ensuring that they have a space where they are working

■ Fashion Designing & Tailoring The Corporation offers training on technical areas such as fashion design and tailoring.

■ Basic Woodwork & Joinery It also offers training in woodwork and joinery

■ Advanced Carpentry & Apprenticeship The Corporation is involved in carpentry at an advanced level and in apprenticeship where trainees watch as experienced carpenters do the work and learn the skills

■ Information, Communication & Technology The other critical area is that of ICT, where trainees are introduced to new techniques in the information and communication sphere.

■ Linkages BEDCO helps enterprises by linking them to others of their nature for surnegising purposes ■ Value Chains BEDCO helps businesses

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■ Business Incubation ServicesBEDCO incubates micro businesses until it ensures that they are developed to a level where they can stand on their own and operate independently of the Corporation

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PROJECTS

Ichorise Mohoebi

Iketsetse

■ Ichorise Mohoebi is a nation-wide entrepreneurship capacity-building project that ensures that Basotho are able to start, operate and grow their businesses.

■ The project provides business and technical skills to various groups which include youth and women, both in rural and urban areas.

■ After providing skills, the Corporation identi�ies viable business projects and provides incubation services until the businesses graduate to become sustainable enterprises that address current job shortages.

Project Objectives:■ The project intends, among others, to instill entrepreneurial skills into existing and potential micro, small and medium enter-prises (MSMEs).

■ It also aims to equip MSMEs with business management skills to be able to start, operate and grow their businesses :

The project is delivered in four modules:1. Consultants capacity Module – Aimed at Business consultants and accountants who will be up skilled to offer the training and advisory services in this project, along with BEDCO’s business development consultants;

2. Start-Your-Business Module – Aimed at survivalists and those intending to start businesses, with business germination skills, and assisting them to register companies or cooperatives, as well as set up viable clusters. Under this module parallel technical skills such as basic woodwork, basis dress making, tailoring will be provided to those who have interest in them;

3. Operating-Your-Business Module - Aimed at those who are al-ready in business but who do not have necessary skills to ensure that their businesses succeed;

4. Grow-Your-Business Module – Aimed at already established busi-nesses which need to grow from small to medium and even beyond, and those who want to export and operate internationally.

The Iketsetse Project is a rural productivity project that is implemented in both rural and peri-urban areas of Lesotho.

Rationale of the project:■ Its intention is to enhance the livelihoods of the rural communities.

■ It is a poverty alleviation programme that is aimed at assisting rural communities to engage in self-employment activities using resources available in their areas, to produce indigenous products.

■ The programme aims to empower and capacitate rural communities to be economically active and independent.

Modalities:■ In order to support this initiative in the peri-urban areas with market potential for their products.

■ To ensure sustainability of the programme, the rural communities will take full ownership of the initiatives with the support of BEDCO

■ The project is predicated on the notion that income is critical to food security and people’s livelihoods, hence this project will bring about economic independence to rural communities

Objectives: ■ The main objective of the project is to contribute towards rural pover-ty reduction by bringing economic independence into the households:■ It is intended to establish ongoing self-sufficient small-scale income-generating activities for rural communities,■ It is intended to rehabilitate and empower rural communities by maximizing self-employment,■ To facilitate small-scale business skills development at community level,■ To maximise sustainable development by utilising local resources whenever possible,■ To integration of local traditional designs and techniques: ■ To instill entrepreneurial culture and help rural communities to gain self-confidence starting own businesses,■ To promote tourism by producing and selling local products made from natural resources which will increase preservation of such re-sources,■ To encourage rural communities to take part in issues of waste man-agement in ways that they can help them generate income for them-selves, ■ To promote value-adding technologies such as quality control and packaging, ■ To develop the market both locally and regionally,

PROJECTS

QhotsisoThe Business Incubation programme is a pro-gramme that offers assistance to enterprises;

Services provided by the business incubation pro-gramme are:

■ Business Advisory services

■ Business management training

■ Technical training and technical advice( e.g equip-ment training where applicable)

ICTThe project is intended to create a dynamic website that is aligned to the strategy of the Corporation, which is to meet the needs of both internal and external stakeholders;

Services provided by the business incubation pro-gramme are:■ Unlimited email addresses

■ Adaptive to mobile devices

■ Tailored contact form to allow users to give users feedback

■ Link Google calendar and events to the website

■ Publish tweets or facebook content to the web-site from a mobile device

■ U-tube connected to website

■ Live directory

■ Classified electronic advertisements

■Business networking systems such as network-ing platforms for SMMEs, forums etc

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■ Entrepreneurship orientation

■ Facilitation of access to market

■ Preparation of business plans

■ A workplace for those in need

■ Business counselling and mentouring

■ Facilitation of business funding

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The Operations ProgrammeBusiness and Technical Trainingsa. Business managementDo you want to know how the big companies got to where they are today? Enroll in one of our business management courses and unleash your potential:■ Entrepreneurship development■ Business development and growth■ International expansion■ Strategic planning■ Project management■ Financial management for entrepreneurs■ Operations management & production manage-ment■ Business governance and ethics■ Risk & business continuity management■ Business leadership & management■ People & performance management■ Customer service■ Green technologies

b. Technical training■ Basic carpentry training – Basic carpentry is offered for six months in Leribe and Mafeteng.■Entry requirements: PLSE certi�icate.■ Apprenticeship – 2 years, MaseruEntry requirements: Tertiary quali�icationTailoring course - provided to a group (minimum �if-teen people) anywhere in the country.

Entry requirements: Basic reading and writingWe offer business management throughout the year wherever there is a need within the country. Technical training is offered in Leribe, Mafeteng and Maseru. The duration of the course depends on the nature of the group.

CORE PROGRAMME

SUPPORT PROGRAMMES Human Resources & Administration

Goal The main purpose of Human Resources is to ensure the welfare and wellbeing of BEDCO employees at all times. This it does through many programmes in-tended to make every employee at ease during his/her stay with the Corporation.

Legal & Corporate Affairs Programme Goal The goal of the programme is to handle the Corpora-tion’s legal affairs, compliance and management sec-retariat. Constant holding of board, management and other meetings of the organisation are the responsi-bility of the programme.

Finance Goal The key focus area of the Finance Department is to ensure ef-fective management of the Corporation’s funds and creation of various income streams for sustainable growth of the Cor-poration. This is does through a myriad of value-adding in-vestments and systems.

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Planning, Monitoring & Evaluation

Communications & Marketing Programme Goal The goal of the Communications & Marketing programme of BEDCO is to coordinate and conduct public relations programmes that are designed to create and maintain a favourable national and international image of the cor-poration.

Programme Goal The goal of the PME programme is to ensure that BEDCO trots on proper governance lines in its operations. It en-sures that programmes execute their plans in line with the Strategic Plan of the Corporation and the systems of the organisation.

We off er diff erent sizes of business shelter at aff ordable rates. Place an inquiry by �illing in a form below and you will get response within 24 hours. If there is no vacant unit cur-rently your application will kept for 24 months and you will be contacted as soon as a unit is available. Check below for vacant units and apply on-line.

Our Estate Unit are found in seven districts: ■ Maseru■ Hlotse■ Butha-Buthe■ Mokhotlong■ Qacha’s Nek■ Mohale’s Hoek■ Mafeteng

Business Unit Rental

Basotho Enterprise Development Corporation (BEDCO)P.O. Box 1216Maseru 100

Lesotho Cell: +266 63125773

Tel: +266 52502094/5/6Website: http://www. bedco.org.ls

Email: sithetho@bedco.org.ls mzimathatha@gmail.com

The PME does this through contonous reviews of pro-gramme delivery by various programmes. It makes fol-low-ups on what programmes are doing. It is also respon-sible for advising programmes on how to better execute their plans.