San Francisco Frontiers - Lesotho's king pitches green energy to Davos elites

The monarch travelled from his landlocked mountain kingdom within South Africa to promote his green energy fund in meetings with business and political leaders in the Swiss Alpine village.

"Davos seems to be a magnet of political, economic and business leadership of the entire globe," King Letsie told AFP in an interview at the World Economic Forum.

"We felt that, if possible, we should come and see how we can engage with some of these business leaders, some of these political leaders, to see how we can sell... our renewable energy potential," he said.

A poor country of just over two million people stricken by droughts, Lesotho is economically dependent on South Africa, where much of the population goes to work and sends money back home.

Many work in gold and diamond mines in South Africa but fewer are working there as the industry "no longer is what it used to be", King Letsie said.

Lesotho is a constitutional monarchy where the king has no formal power but King Letsie has travelled the world to promote the private sector-managed fund.

The aim of the fund is to boost private investment in solar, energy and hydro power projects in Lesotho, and one day export renewable power to South Africa.

"I see... our potential to produce renewable energy as something that can be a transformative factor in the development of our economy," King Letsie said.

"We need to create a different economic model."

- 'Get things rolling' -

UK bank Standard Chartered and South Africa's Standard Bank Group are providing financial advice to the fund, which was launched in February 2024 and is known as His Majesty King Letsie III Just Energy Transition Fund.

King Letsie is working on attracting investors.

"What we need desperately now is to get some catalytic funding, to get things rolling," he said.

Lesotho has plenty of sunlight, wind and water to offer, and it has partnered with Chinese firms to produce solar power.

But it is also in the frontlines of climate change, with a drought last year destroying crops and livestock, and forcing the government to declare a state of national emergency.

"This is one of the glaring impacts of climate change," King Letsie said.

In Davos, he has meetings lined up with mining group Anglo American, a Danish wind energy company and the presidents of South Africa and Botswana.

"We've been to Scandinavia, all the Nordic countries. We've been to the UK, we've been to the US, trying to talk to different institutions and businesses to come and to be involved and invest," King Letsie said.

"I'm optimistic," he said. "The mood in the international community is to move away from fossil fuels, into renewable energy."

D.Parker--SFF