Chapter five: Corporate governance • Efforts be made to develop a national code of corporate governance. (CBL, LIA, private sector) • Lesotho finalise and enact several pending pieces of legislation relevant to the promotion of good corporate governance – the Companies Act, the Accountants Act and the Insurance Act. (Government of Lesotho, Parliament) • Lesotho develop simplified accounting standards for SMEs. In this regard, it is worthwhile to note that ECSAFA, of which LIA is a member, has been collaborating in the work of the IASB in preparing IFRS for SMEs. There is a draft of this currently being considered by members. (LIA) • Lesotho enforce more stringently labour and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards, particularly in the textile industries. (Government of Lesotho, trade unions, private sector, civil society) 5.3 Assessment of performance on APRM objectives Objective 1: Provide an enabling environment and effective regulatory framework for economic activities 144 i. Summary of the CSAR 519. Lesotho’s business environment comprises the private sector and parastatal organisations. These are subject to regulation by the state through legislation, policies and the judicial system. The laws that regulate the private sector include the FIA of 1999, the Companies Act No. 25 of 1967 (as amended), the Partnership Proclamation No. 78 of 1957 and the Insolvency Proclamation of 1957. 520. The private sector can be categorised into different industries. These are transport, manufacturing, mining, banking and financial services, as well as the supply of goods and other services. Businesses comprise sole traders, partnerships and limited liability companies. Most local enterprises are sole traders, which are in some instances organised into associations and cooperatives and limited liability companies. 521. Large enterprises operating in Lesotho are mostly of foreign origin and are registered as such under the laws of Lesotho. Because of the size of local businesses, most are not listed on a stock exchange. Those which list, do so with either the Johannesburg Securities Exchange or the London Stock Exchange. 522. Parastatals, as trading enterprises in which the government holds a majority interest, historically comprise amenity providers like the former Electricity Corporation, the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA), the Telecommunications Corporation, the Lesotho National Development Corporation (LNDC), and others. Under the influence of the Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) of the IMF and the World Bank, some public corporations have since been privatised. In some cases, the government of Lesotho holds a minority percentage of the total issued share capital.