Fast-expanding Limkokwing University of Creative Technology has blazed a trail again in Africa. This time, it is making its presence felt in the Lesotho capital of Maseru.

Limkokwing opened its second campus in Africa on Monday (25 August) after its successful foray into Botswana last year. It welcomed the first intake of 1,115 Basotho (as Lesotho’s people are called), all keen to hone new skills for the 21st century.

The soft opening of the first private university in Lesotho sets the scene to groom a new generation of critical thinkers, entrepreneurs and leaders in the land-locked country. These students will be introduced to new digital technology and creative education. They will form the highly skilled human capital needed to fulfil the country Vision 2020.

Located more than 1,000 meters above sea level, the hi-tech university is ushering in a breathe of fresh air. It will maintain Limkokwing’s culture of excellence recognised at its campuses in Gaborone, Cambodia, Indonesia, China, the United Kingdom and Malaysia.

The campus stands out with its wraparound “skin” that conveys the university’s global expansion, multinational cultural interaction, focus on digital technology and environmental awareness. The unique façade arrests the attention of visitors and passers-by and is the talk of the town.

“The spectacle is seen for the first time in Lesotho and Africa,” remarked a lecturer. “It is very impressive.”

Limkokwing Lesotho also made an impression on the country’s Minister of Education and Training, Dr Mamphono Khaketla, when she visited the campus on Monday to meet the pioneer students and have a first-hand look at the university’s facilities.

“You are very lucky to have been admitted to this university,” she told the students. “If you go to my office, you will find many letters and messages from students who were crying because they were not admitted.”

She said that, as the country’s Prime Minister had pointed out, the university does not create employees but employers. “When you graduate one day, I want you to knock on my door not to say you are looking for a job but to say that you can give me five people I can employ. So you go out there to become job creators, not job seekers,” she said.

For one week, she noted, the university students and lecturers have demonstrated their creative capability in planning the soft opening and producing a video. “Be role models,” she advised them. “Make a difference. Make Lesotho different. Make sure you will make a change in Lesotho.”

Dr Khaketla said the Government believes Limkokwing’s establishment in the country of 2.1 million people will produce techno-savvy, creativity-oriented Basotho men and women who are groomed to meet the needs of the country and the industry.

Other Cabinet Ministers were well acquainted with Limkokwing’s track record. For instance, the Principal Secretary of the Cabinet (Economic Affairs), Mrs Moliehi Matabane, was impressed with its advanced facilities and quality programmes when she visited the flagship campus in Cyberjaya last April

She believes that Limkokwing Lesotho will provide the answer to Lesotho’s needs to create a new generation of creative thinkers and drive its economy forward.

“This is the type of tertiary institution that Lesotho has been looking for,” she said.

In her welcoming speech, student representative Lineo Charlotte Segoete thanked the Government for giving the students an opportunity “to push beyond borders and excel beyond expectations.”

“The world will soon see us as what we truly are – our arts, our culture and our passion for creativity and technology. We will embrace innovation and change.”

The opening of Limkokwing in Lesotho was the result of a fruitful meeting between the country’s Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Bethuel Pakalitha Mosisili, and the university’s president, Tan Sri Dato’ Dr Lim Kok Wing, in Langkawi last year.

Tan Sri Lim thanked the Lesotho Government for its full support. “The university has a shared vision to build awareness among Basotho and also to prepare them for a new world with they skills they will need to make Lesotho competitive and strong to face the challenges,” he said in his address to the pioneer students.

“We will provide the conducive, simulating and motivating environment to help you succeed in achieving all you want and more. And I expect the staff of this university to run the extra mile to make sure all the students are taken care of and to make sure that every student is able to reach the finishing line. That no one is left behind.

“We want our students to become the best they can be. It is my personal motto never to settle for the second best. Always aim for the highest. Aim for the best.”

Tan Sri Lim said the students will not just be Lesotho’s next generation of ground-breakers, mover and shakers, but of Africa’s too. They will be empowered to change industry; they will make Lesotho a leading nation in Africa.

Lesotho strives to be a stable democracy, united, prosperous and peaceful by 2020. It is expected to have a healthy and well- developed human resource base. Its economy will be strong, its environment well-managed and its technology well-established.