Chinese Government provides RMB 430 million grant — via ETCA — for Maseru District Hospital and Eye Clinic Construction Project

On January 10, 2018, the Chinese Ambassador to Lesotho and Lesotho’s Minister of Development Planning signed an exchange of letters, which committed approximately RMB 430 million of grant funding for the Maseru District Hospital and Eye Clinic Construction Project. The grant proceeds were partly drawn from an Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) that the Chinese Government and Government of Lesotho signed on December 18, 2017 and another ETCA that the two governments signed on March 15, 2018. The purpose of the project is to construct a 200-bed hospital -- on the plot of land where Queen Elizabeth II Hospital resides — with the capacity to serve 400,000 Basotho in Maseru District and surrounding areas. It will provide a variety of health services, including eye care, cancer treatment, tuberculosis, HIV and non-communicable diseases. The modern facility will also have state-of-the-art medical equipment as well as training facilities and dormitories for trainee doctors and nurses. Upon completion, it is expected that the Maseru District Hospital and Eye Clinic will operate as the country’s second referral hospital after Queen ‘Mamohato Memorial Hospital (QMMH), relieving the latter of its ever-increasing patient load. Shanghai Construction (Group) Corporation (SCG) is the contractor responsible for implementation. As of February 2019, the design of the project was complete. However, one year later, in February 2020, Queen Elizabeth II Hospital had still not been demolished to make way for the new Maseru District Hospital and Eye Clinic (due to disagreements between the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Public Works over the costs of demolition). Queen Elizabeth II Hospital was finally demolished in April 2020. On February 24, 2021, a groundbreaking (sod-turning) ceremony took place. The project is expected to reach completion within 30 months (on or around August 24, 2023). It is also expected to generate 100 jobs for Bosotho during the construction period.

Additional details

1. The Chinese project title is 援莱索托马塞卢地区医院和眼科诊所项目 or 莱索托马塞卢地区医院和眼科诊所项目 or 马塞卢地区医院及眼科诊所项目. 2. The December 18, 2017 ETCA provided RMB 200 million. The March 15, 2018 ETCA also provided RMB 200 million. It is unknown if the remaining RMB 30 million was drawn from one or more additional ETCAs. This issue warrants further investigation. 3. Several sources suggest that, upon completion, a Chinese medical team will be stationed at the newly constructed hospital (as part of a partnership between China Wuhan Hospital of Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine with Maseru District Hospital).

Number of official sources

14

Number of total sources

24