WiLAT launched in Seychelles |21 July 2021

Aimed at promoting the status and welfare of women in the logistics and transport sector, Seychelles Chapter of the Women in Logistics and Transport was officially launched yesterday.

The newly formed Seychelles’ Chapter of the Women in Logistics and Transport (WiLAT) currently comprises four members:

• Emily Mousbe, chairperson ‒ a legal advisor at the Seychelles Ports Authority and legal consultant at Aqua Legal Consultancy
• Madiha Philo, vice chairperson ‒ public relations manager at the Ministry of Fisheries and Blue Economy
• Estelle Lucas, treasurer ‒ a legal advisor at the Ministry of Transport
• Vivienne Volcere, secretary ‒ policy analyst at the Ministry of Transport.

Internationally, Women in Logistics and Transport (WiLAT) was launched in June 2013 to promote the industry to female members and to encourage and support their career development.

The global platform seeks to provide more women with opportunities such as training and international professional networking in this sometimes man-driven field.

The members of WiLAT are members of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT).

“Being a female professional living in Seychelles, a country with a culture of strong, intelligent and capable women, I feel that there should be more women in leadership roles in the industry. Support, training, networking and collaboration with a common goal is a way of achieving this and WiLAT is an ideal platform, as it aims to promote the status of women in logistics and transport to encourage and support their career development. This is indeed possible as, since its launch in 2013, WiLAT has now over 3,000 members in 28 countries,” noted the chairperson, Ms Mousbe.

The launch of this platform in Seychelles yesterday was held over Zoom whereby Seychelles’ Chapter was inducted into the WiLAT family.

Some of the key speakers were WiLAT’s global chairperson Gayani De Alwis, CILT international president Dato Ts Adb Razak Abd Malek, WiLAT’s global vice chairperson of the Indian Ocean islands Nazeema Jalium and Mauritius Ports Authority’s chairman Shankhnad Ghurburrun.

Speakers from the Seychelles side were principal secretary in the Ministry of Transport Alan Renaud, chief executive of the Seychelles Ports Authority Ronny Brutus and chairperson of WiLAT Seychelles Ms Mousbe.

“Last year, we celebrated 250 years as a nation and throughout all those centuries we relied on good transportation systems, long supply chains and logistics for our very existence. As the principal secretary in transport, I know that transport plays a crucial role in the logistics management process. Good transports systems are the channels for the free flow of people, goods and services […],” said PS Renaud during his intervention.

“It’s a sector that we need to fill the talent pipeline. Supply chain and logistics is probably the best kept secret in business school ‒ not a lot of people know it even exists and most of all, it is kept away from the women in our society. A lot of women think of warehouses as dirt, hard that is not for them. How are you supposed to have a family if you are trucking or flying or sailing, working 24/7, 365? But this is misconception, I think,” he continued.

PS Renaud went on to state that this sector is not and should not be seen as a “man’s job” and career opportunities are abundant in the logistics and transport field for women.

Ms Mousbe also presented WiLAT Seychelles’ action plans for the next year which includes launching an awareness campaign to promote WiLAT and CILT in Seychelles, and getting corporate partners onboard.

Elsie Pointe