Lesotho scores 1.48 out of 4 on the composite, which places it in the Emerging tier at rank 20 of 54. The eight pillar scores are fellow-assigned values from the Regional Summary, and the indicators are not scored. The composite sits level with the Southern Africa mean of 1.49 and above the Africa mean of 1.33. Strategy and Vision is the strongest pillar at 3.20 and Implementation and Impact is the weakest at 0.00. The profile pairs a high strategy score with no implementation score. The 3.20 for Strategy and Vision is retained but under second-edition review, because at 30 June 2026 the artificial intelligence policy had ministry approval only.
P1Strategy & Vision3.20 / 4Established
Strategy and Vision scores 3.20 (Established), a fellow-assigned value that is retained and under second-edition review: it implies an established strategy, and at 30 June 2026 the policy had ministry approval only (S1.1). Desk research in October 2026 found an Artificial Intelligence Policy and Implementation Plan from MICSTI, still marked 'Second Draft' in September 2026. The editor's check of 7 October 2026 records that the Ministry reported approving the policy on 20 February 2026. Cabinet adoption and gazettal are not confirmed (S1.2). The draft targets agriculture, health, education, employment and the public sector (S1.7) and sets actions and timelines for 2025 to 2030 (S1.8). A dedicated budget and a review mechanism were not determined (S1.4, S1.10).
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P2Governance & Regulation0.80 / 4Nascent
Governance and Regulation scores 0.80 (Nascent), a fellow-assigned value. Desk research in October 2026 found that the Data Protection Act, 2011 became law when it was gazetted as Act No. 5 of 2012 (G2.2). On 21 April 2026 the ministry's Chief Legal Officer said the Data Protection Commission had not yet been established, a confirmed absence (G2.3, G2.4). The African Union status list dated 2 February 2026 records Malabo Convention signature on 30 November 2023, ratification on 5 February 2025 and deposit on 16 February 2025 (G2.7). The 2011 Act applies to foreign entities (G2.9). Artificial intelligence legislation, a regulatory body and enforcement actions were not determined (G2.1, G2.5, G2.8).
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P3Infrastructure & Data1.20 / 4Emerging
Infrastructure and Data scores 1.20 (Emerging), a fellow-assigned value. Desk research in October 2026 found 3 data centre facilities listed in Data Center Map's Africa directory (I3.1). The Southern African Development Community ICT Observatory reports 2025 international bandwidth of 29.7 Gbps against lit capacity of 64 Gbps (I3.4). The Data Protection Act 2011 sets a two-tier regime for cross-border transfers (I3.8), and a blueprint for a proposed national data centre is in development (I3.10). The research confirmed two absences: Lesotho is landlocked and has no submarine cable landing point (I3.3), and no hyperscaler region is located in the country (I3.5). Data centre power capacity and a data localisation mandate were not determined (I3.2, I3.7).
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P4Human Capital1.60 / 4Emerging
Human Capital scores 1.60 (Emerging), a fellow-assigned value. Desk research in October 2026 found evidence on 2 of the 10 indicators. The CSET Country Activity Tracker, via Our World in Data, counts 4 artificial intelligence scholarly publications for Lesotho in 2024 and 2 in 2023 (H4.4). Sesotho is supported in Meta NLLB-200 and in Google Translate (H4.10). The other 8 indicators were not determined. No source gave artificial intelligence researchers per million; a general figure of 32.2 research and development researchers per million people in 2023 is context only (H4.1). The research did not identify university programmes, a workforce training programme or a labour transition framework in the sources opened (H4.3, H4.7, H4.8).
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P5Innovation & Ecosystem0.50 / 4Nascent
Innovation and Ecosystem scores 0.50 (Nascent), a fellow-assigned value. Desk research in October 2026 found evidence on none of the 10 indicators. It confirmed one absence: the national standards body, LSQAS, exists as an ISO correspondent member, but Lesotho is absent from the participating and observing member lists of ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 42, and no national artificial intelligence committee was found (N5.8). The other 9 indicators were not determined. No company count was located (N5.1). Partech's 2025 report implies that Lesotho received less than US$50M in tech equity in 2025, with no country figure (N5.2). No regulatory sandbox, safety evaluation facility or ISO/IEC 42001 certification was identified in the sources opened (N5.4, N5.6, N5.7).
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P6Ethics & Inclusion2.10 / 4Developing
Ethics and Inclusion scores 2.10 (Developing), a fellow-assigned value. Desk research in October 2026 found that section 51 of the Data Protection Act 2011 bars decisions based solely on automated processing (E6.3) and that section 39 allows complaints to the Data Protection Commission. The Commission has not been established, so the complaint route is not operational (E6.4). More than 100 stakeholders took part in validating the policy in August 2026 (E6.8). A text search of the second-draft policy found no reference to Ubuntu, Botho or African ethical principles, a confirmed absence (E6.9). The draft proposes risk assessments and regular audits, but no such requirement is in force, and both indicators were not determined (E6.1, E6.2).
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P7Regional Integration2.00 / 4Developing
Regional Integration scores 2.00 (Developing), a fellow-assigned value. Desk research in October 2026 found Lesotho on the official signatory list of the Africa Declaration on Artificial Intelligence, done at Kigali on 4 April 2025, with no national implementation step citing the Declaration (R7.1, R7.2). Lesotho delivered a national statement at the inaugural United Nations Global Dialogue on AI Governance in Geneva on 6 to 7 July 2026 (R7.9). The remaining indicators were not determined. The Southern African Development Community Secretariat is developing a Regional AI Strategy and Regulatory Framework, but no Lesotho-specific participation was documented (R7.3). No cross-border agreement, election provision or disinformation framework was found in the sources opened (R7.4, R7.5, R7.6).
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P8Implementation & Impact0.00 / 4Nascent
Implementation and Impact scores 0.00 (Nascent), a fellow-assigned value. Desk research in October 2026 found evidence on none of the 10 indicators. It confirmed one absence: OECD.AI, updated 28 April 2026, records a monitoring and evaluation framework with targets for 2025 to 2030, and states that no formal evaluation has been conducted and no results are public (M8.5). The other 9 indicators were not determined. No budget is specified for the Artificial Intelligence Policy and Implementation Plan (M8.1). The policy targets health, agriculture and education, but no sector-specific regulation or guidance was found for any of them (M8.2, M8.6, M8.8). No government system registry and no documented protective outcome was found (M8.4, M8.9).
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