The African Legal Support Facility (“ALSF”) and the Kingdom of Lesotho signed a Strategic Partnership Agreement (“SPA”) on 21 September 2026, providing a structured framework for ALSF’s future legal and technical assistance to the Government of Lesotho.
The three-year agreement builds on the longstanding relationship between the ALSF and the Kingdom of Lesotho and is intended to support the Government’s priority development projects in sectors where specialised legal and technical assistance is required, including energy, natural resources, infrastructure and sovereign finance.
Under the SPA, the parties will work together to identify and prioritise projects requiring ALSF support, helping to improve coordination, and ensure that assistance is aligned with the Government’s development priorities.
As part of the mutual commitments under the SPA, the Kingdom of Lesotho has agreed to contribute to the financial resources of the ALSF through an annual contribution and other agreed mechanisms, in accordance with the terms of the SPA.
Commenting on the agreement, the Minister of Finance and Development Planning of Lesotho, Dr. Retšelisitsoe Matlanyane said: “Lesotho welcomes this Strategic Partnership Agreement with the African Legal Support Facility. The Agreement provides a practical framework for strengthening access to specialised legal and technical support for priority projects of national importance. We look forward to working with the ALSF to ensure that complex transactions are well prepared, carefully negotiated and aligned with the Government’s development priorities ”
Olivier Pognon, Director and CEO of the ALSF, welcomed the agreement, noting that: “This agreement reflects the value of long-term cooperation with our regional member countries. It allows the ALSF and the Government of Lesotho to plan support more effectively, focus on priority needs, and deploy specialised legal and technical assistance where it can make a practical difference. The ALSF remains committed to supporting African governments to strengthen legal capacity, improve transaction outcomes, and promote sustainable development.”
The SPA reflects ALSF’s continued commitment to supporting African governments with high-quality legal and technical assistance for complex commercial transactions, creditor litigation, capacity building and knowledge development. It also reinforces the Facility’s partnership-based approach to working with regional member countries to strengthen legal capacity and advance sustainable development priorities.
About the ALSF
Established by the African Development Bank in 2008, the ALSF assists African governments in negotiating complex commercial transactions, providing legal and technical assistance and developing capacity building tools in the key sectors of infrastructure and public-private partnerships, energy, natural resources and extractive industries, as well as on sovereign debt and creditor disputes.
