Steinmeier ends Africa trip as first German president in Lesotho

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier arrived in Lesotho on Saturday for the final stop on his four-day trip to Africa, meeting Lesotho’s King Letsie III in the small mountainous country.

“I am honoured to be the first German President to visit your wonderful country,” Steinmeier wrote in the guest book at the king’s royal palace in the capital Maseru.

The country is situated entirely within South Africa. The monarch invited Steinmeier to visit when they met last year in Berlin.

Steinmeier’s visit to Lesotho comes off the back of discussions in South Africa with President Cyril Ramaphosa on Friday.

Steinmeier had to change planes for the trip to the kingdom, as the airport in Maseru is too small to accomodate his normal German government Airbus A350 aircraft.

The German president was driven from the airport to the royal palace, where he was served coffee and tea while meeting with the king, who warmly welcomed Steinmeier.

Steinmeier noted the country’s deep poverty during his one-day visit, and stressed the importance of development assistance, such as a water management project in which Germany is involved.

“Anyone who looks around here will see how necessary it is for us to take care of this country,” Steinmeier said.

Since gaining independence from the United Kingdom in 1966, Lesotho has suffered from political instability. The unemployment rate is more than 30%, and even higher among young people.

Justice, public services and security agencies suffer from corruption and abuses of power, with crucial reforms systematically undermined by political elites, analysts say.

Many villages remain accessible only on foot or by horse.

The country heavily relies on its large neighbour South Africa and due to limited employment opportunities, many inhabitants have sought work in South Africa for decades, particularly in mining.

Lesotho’s economy primarily depends on agriculture and the export of textiles, diamonds and water.

Steinmeier spent three days visiting Nigeria and South Africa, the regional economic heavyweights in southern Africa. Lesotho, by contrast, is only a very minor trading partner with Germany and has very few natural resources.

He noted, however, that Germany and Lesotho are closer politically on some issues than powers in the region such as South Africa: “Lesotho, for example, has condemned Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine from the outset.”