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Vodacom Lesotho Financial Services, announced a plan to have its mobile money service, M-Pesa, as the only platform to purchase any goods from traders during the ‘Maletsunyane Braai Festival. This is part of a sponsorship in which Vodacom Lesotho and OTB Exclusive Events are the principal sponsors of the festival.
Sponsored to the tune of about a million maloti, this biggest braai festival in Lesotho, is set to take place from November 29 to December 1 under the breath-taking ‘Maletsunyane Falls in Semonkong, about 115km from capital city Maseru. The Executive Head, Mpho Mosotho of the mobile network company formally announced its sponsorship of the event. Her briefing provided key insights on key partnerships including collaborations with the Ministry of Tourism, Sports, Arts and Culture’s involvement of the local communities, and the resulting economic benefits. She further added that M-Pesa intend to support this event in ensuring that people use their money in a safe manner by using M-Pesa only.
Mosotho explained that plans are afoot for revellers from outside the country to be able to purchase and register Vodacom SIM cards at the venue; this will in turn make it easy for the new subscribers to register for M-pesa. Local vendors and handicrafts sellers will be on hand to provide these services. She declined to disclose the exact amount of money that Vodacom is injecting into the festival, except to only estimate it at a million Maloti.
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Bokang Kheekhe of OTB Exclusive Events underscored the importance of tourism in the country, such as creation of jobs and financial improvement for families. Kheekhe said the festival was first held in 2016 and was organised by four men who were enthusiastic about events related to tourist attractions in the country. The event has created various opportunities to support local vendors who will be showcasing their hand-crafted products, selling food and beverages, and other highlighted activities such as hiking, horse riding and many other activities that highlight the beauty of Semonkong.