A History of the Lesotho Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 1976-1993

This paper documents a history of the Lesotho Chamber of Commerce and Industry from 1976 after its formation to 1993 when the country transitioned from a military dictatorship regime to a multiparty political system. First, it debunks a popular Eurocentric development myth that Basotho entrepreneurs lack adequate spirit of economic solidarity to advance their interests. Second, it accounts for Basotho traders' postcolonial collective struggle to play a significant role in the economy which was dominated by European traders. The latter group had strong backing from both the colonial and postcolonial governments. The paper argues that these actors used dominant Enlightenment ideologies of entrepreneurship and development to justify marginalisation of Basotho in local business. Archival sources, oral histories, secondary sources and ethnographic insights were used in the writing of this paper. The author was based at the Chamber in 2013 as their ethnographic institution in attempts to understand the history of Basotho entrepreneurs in postcolonial Lesotho.