MCA-LESOTHO

            
                   www.mca.org.ls

Program rationale:

The United States of America acting through the Millennium Challenge Corporation (“MCC”) and the Government of the Kingdom of Lesotho (the “Government”) have entered into a Millennium Challenge Compact for Millennium Challenge Account (MCA-Lesotho) assistance to help facilitate poverty reduction through economic growth in the Kingdom of Lesotho (the “Compact”). Lesotho PostBank has been allocated part of the MCA-Lesotho funding to realize an electronic transacting platform.


Objectives:

While the broad goal is to uplift the poor people of Lesotho, the specific objectives of the MCA-Lesotho funded Debit/Smart Card Implementation Project are:

• To realize a reliable electronic transacting platform targeted at enabling the under-banked and un-banked to transact in a secure manner.

• To realize financial intermediation through introduction of transacting services and products, particularly aimed at enabling the poor to transact and encourage them to enter mainstream banking while instilling a culture of saving money.

• To provide an inter-bank transacting facility for the under-banked and un-banked with a view towards enhancing service delivery and expanding access to quality banking services

These objectives are in line with the mandate of Lesotho PostBank as an Implementing Entity, as captured in its vision, and governed by an Implementing Entity Agreement with MCA-Lesotho. The vision reads thus; “To be a sustainable financial service provider of choice in the retail market and a champion of socio-economic development”. This vision is in line with the overall goal of the Compact that is to reduce poverty, and contribute to economic growth in Lesotho.

The MCC project will support the LPB to the tune of $0.822 million to implement the smart card/debit card switching technology.