| Title | Chapter 3: The legal and institutional frameworks of international trade in Lesotho |
|---|---|
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.4102/aosis.2025.BK536.03 |
| Landing page | https://books.aosis.co.za/index.php/ob/catalog/book/536 |
| License | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ |
| Copyright | Denis Nfor Yuni & Tsotang Tsietsi (eds.). Licensee: AOSIS (Pty) Ltd. The moral rights of the editors and authors have been asserted. |
| Publisher | AOSIS |
| Long abstract | This chapter considers the legal and institutional frameworks for international trade in the context of Lesotho. It examines these frameworks at three levels: international, regional and domestic. Internationally, it references some of the key instruments of the World Trade Organization. Regionally, it references both the continental (African Continental Free Trade Area) as well as the sub-regional frameworks of the Southern African Development Community. Domestic policies, strategies and laws round up the discussion. The chapter argues that Lesotho participates in key trading arrangements and that this is positive. Participation in international and regional trade liberalising agreements can yield positive benefits, such as market access for exports and access to benefits, such as special and differential treatment, which includes the potential to receive technical assistance and capacity building. However, in the absence of strong production capacity, Lesotho will fail to significantly harness these agreements to achieve improved trade outcomes and sustainable economic development. Lesotho’s domestic frameworks for trade are examined. These encompass plans, policies, strategies, laws as well as institutional arrangements. Positive components are highlighted and challenges explained. Policy advice is proffered for consideration by the Government of Lesotho in the concluding remarks by way of proposed regulatory and institutional reforms of various types at all levels. |
| Print length | 19 pages |
| Language | English (Original) |
| THEMA |
|
| BIC |
|
| Funding |
Letzadzo Kometsi holds an LLD from North-West University in South Africa. In his LLD thesis, ‘Utility of indigenous methods of dispute resolution in intra-African trade’, Kometsi emerged as one of the few researchers to make a significant contribution to the analysis of indigenous dispute resolution methods, particularly in the context of intra-African trade. His interest in commercial law and alternative dispute resolution (ADR) is insatiable. Kometsi is especially focused on protecting minority rights and has served as a research respondent for various organisations addressing issues affecting the BaPhuthi ethnic minority of Lesotho. Kometsi also holds an LLM in International Business Law from the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom, a postgraduate diploma in Labour Law (Conciliation and Arbitration) from NUL, Lesotho, and both a BA in Development Studies and Political and Administrative Studies, as well as an LLB from NUL in Maseru. Since 2018, Kometsi has been appointed as a senior lecturer and is currently the Dean of the Faculty of Law at NUL. He teaches Introduction to Law, Law of Export Trade and Commercial Arbitration (LLM) and supervises dissertations at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Throughout Kometsi’s academic career, he has published several articles and contributed a chapter to a book in various fields, including commercial law, labour law, contract law and human rights law.
Tsotang Tsietsi is a senior lecturer in the Department of Private Law at NUL, Lesotho. Tsietsi holds a PhD in Commercial Law from UCT, South Africa; an LLM in International Economic Law from the University of Cambridge, UK; and an LLB from NUL, Lesotho. As of January 2022, Tsietsi co-holds the NUL WTO Research Chair. Tsietsi’s research interests broadly encompass international economic law, particularly World Trade Organization (WTO)law, African regional integration, trade and agriculture, trade in services, gender and trade, and international investment law. Tsietsi also serves as the vice president of the African International Economic Law Network(AfIELN) and is a member of the editorial board of the African Journal of International Economic Law (AJIEL). Tsietsi has a long history of coaching students in various regional and international moot court competitions, including the African Human Rights Moot Court Competition, the African Humanitarian Law Moot Court Competition, the Foreign Direct Investment International Arbitration Moot Competition and the John H Jackson Moot Court Competition on WTO Law.