Song Changqing, the charge d'affaires ad interim at China's embassy in Lesotho, speaks at the sod-turning ceremony for the road construction project on Thursday, December 6, 2018. (Photo : Chinanews.com）

Lesotho's Prime Minister Thomas Thabane climbed aboard an excavator during celebrations to launch the start of construction on the Mpiti to Sehlaba-Thebe road project in the country's Qacha's Nek district on Thursday.

The 91-kilometer-long road runs parallel to the Drakensburg mountain range. An existing road will be upgraded from a gravel to an asphalt road. Due to the complex terrain, the construction will take 36 months.

When the project is completed, the driving time from Mpiti to Sehlaba Tthebe will be shortened from four hours down to around 90 minutes or less. The cut in travel time is expected to give a boost to the country's tourism industry, as the road is connected to the Sehlaba-Thebe National Park, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Lesotho's Prime Minister Thomas Thabane speaks at the sod-turning ceremony on Thursday, December 6, 2018. [Photo provided by Chinanews.com]

The 1.8 billion maloti (128 million US dollars) project is being supported by a 100 million US dollar concessional loan provided by China. It is expected to create more than 300 jobs as a result of local procurement and contracting.

Lesotho's Prime Minister Tom Thabane said at the launch ceremony that the project is a symbol of the strong friendship between Lesotho and China. He said that the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation has become an important driving force for Africa's development, and is a model for South-South cooperation. Song Changqing, the charge d'affaires ad interim at China's embassy in Lesotho, said the project is one of the achievements of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation meeting in Johannesburg.