Lesotho Navigation latérale fiche pays Dans cette rubrique Lesotho Political and Economic relations France and Lesotho Political and Economic relations Date of update: March 24th 2026 Information still valid as of today's date Political relations Historically, Lesotho has had a special relationship with France due to the presence of French Protestant missionaries from 1820, who played a key role in evangelizing Lesotho in the 19th century. In 1868, these missionaries advised King Moshoeshoe, whose kingdom was threatened by the expansion by the Boers, to call on Great Britain to place it under its protection, thus sparing Lesotho from apartheid. It was in this context that the Reformed Church of France established its mission. This led to the creation of the Service Protestant de Mission (DEFAP), which is still the main organization of the French Protestant Federation (FPF) responsible for missionary cooperation with developing countries. While political relations with Lesotho are modest, they are good, as shown by several high-level official visits (visit to France by King Letsie III in 2007 for the Africa-France Summit, and then again in 2015 for COP 21; visit to Lesotho by the Minister of State for Cooperation and Francophonie, Jean-Marie Bockel, in 2007). It should be noted that the Alliance Française in Maseru houses the honorary French and German consulates. However, Lesotho has no embassy in Paris (it has an ambassador in residence in Berlin). Economic relations From an economic perspective, several French businesses (Spie Batignolle, EDF Hydro Engineering Centre, Tractebel) have commercial interests in the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (a project to supply water to South Africa and create hydroelectricity).