MASERU – Bohlokoa Media Company, the publisher of Lesotho Tribune, has been selected among the Top 50 entrepreneurs for the second edition of the Création Africa programme covering South Africa, Lesotho and Malawi.
The announcement was made by the French Institute of South Africa on Friday, 06 February, following what organisers described as an intensive external jury selection process.
“We are proud to announce the Top 50 entrepreneurs selected for the second edition of Création Africa South Africa, Lesotho and Malawi,” the Institute said in a public statement. “Congratulations to all selected entrepreneurs as they embark on this exciting journey.”
The selection places Lesotho Tribune’s parent company within a regional cohort of high-potential creative enterprises poised for scaling, collaboration and continental exposure.
Cementing Lesotho Tribune’s Position
Speaking on Friday, Phafane Nkotsi, proprietor of Lesotho Tribune, described the milestone as both humbling and strategic.
“We are grateful for the opportunity from Création Africa to learn and better serve and cement our position as Lesotho’s publication of record,” Nkotsi said.
For a publication that has steadily positioned itself as a data-driven, investigative and culturally anchored platform, the recognition signals validation beyond Lesotho’s borders.
Nkotsi said Bohlokoa Media Company intends to use the programme to accelerate its transition into a hybrid cultural media hub that integrates journalism, storytelling, creative content and digital production.
The ambition is not incremental growth. It is structural transformation.
Scaling Into a Regional Cultural Platform
Lesotho Tribune is seeking support to expand into a regional cultural platform that amplifies Basotho narratives and strengthens the visibility of African creative industries.
According to Nkotsi, the project will focus on:
• Digital expansion
• Strengthening and improving the podcast Lesotho’s Investment Case
• Developing cultural content spaces
• Advancing visual and digital production capacity
The vision is to create a media ecosystem that does more than report news. It aims to curate identity, archive culture, platform artists, profile entrepreneurs and deepen public discourse across sectors.
In practical terms, this could mean more multimedia storytelling, enhanced podcast production, collaborative creative projects, stronger regional distribution networks and structured engagement with artists and cultural practitioners.
For Lesotho, where cultural production often struggles with funding gaps, distribution bottlenecks and limited cross-border exposure, the programme represents a gateway into continental creative circuits.
A Strategic Inflection Point
The timing is significant.
African creative industries are increasingly being recognised as drivers of economic growth, youth employment and soft power influence. Digital platforms are reshaping how stories travel, how culture is monetised and how small media houses compete with global players.
Participation in a programme like Création Africa signals that Lesotho Tribune is no longer positioning itself merely as a local newspaper. It is staking a claim within Africa’s creative economy.
Nkotsi emphasised that the programme offers not only workshops and hands-on activities but also opportunities to connect with fellow creatives across borders. That network effect may prove as valuable as any technical training.
If executed strategically, the initiative could expand Lesotho Tribune’s footprint beyond print and online reporting into structured cultural programming, podcast syndication, regional storytelling collaborations and creative incubator models.
What Is Création Africa?
Création Africa is an entrepreneurial development programme spearheaded by the French cultural network in Southern Africa, including the French Institute of South Africa. It targets high-potential creative entrepreneurs operating within cultural and creative industries.
The programme provides selected participants with structured workshops, mentorship, skills development sessions, networking opportunities and exposure to regional and international creative ecosystems.
Its objective is to strengthen creative entrepreneurship across Southern Africa by equipping founders with the tools to scale sustainably, collaborate across borders and contribute meaningfully to the continent’s cultural economy.
Selection into the Top 50 follows a competitive external jury process, making it both merit-based and highly selective.
For Bohlokoa Media Company and Lesotho Tribune, the journey now shifts from recognition to execution.
The real work begins.
