Seychelles signs $6.5 million loan agreement with BADEA |24 May 2014

Seychelles has signed a loan agreement with the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) for a US $6.5 million project comprising the provision of utilities and infrastructure for Perseverance Island phase II.

Seychelles has also discussed with the bank the possible funding for the 33 KV South Mahé electricity project.

This took place during bilateral meetings on the margins of the African Development Bank (AfDB) annual meetings which took place from May 19-23 in Kigali, Rwanda.

Seychelles was represented at the meetings by the Minister for Finance, Trade and Investment Pierre Laporte.

Besides meeting with BADEA, meetings were also held with the Kuwaiti Fund and the Export-Import Bank of India.

With the Kuwaiti Fund discussions centred on a number of key projects, namely a new School of Agriculture and the La Rosière school renovation project.
 
Discussions with the Indian Exim Bank focused on measures to speed up disbursement of funds already approved, including the US $10 million credit line through the Development Bank of Seychelles (DBS).

With regard to the AfDB meetings, they coincided with the bank’s 50th anniversary which is being celebrated under the theme ‘The Next 50 years: The Africa We Want’.

Several important events have also been held this week as part of the annual meetings, and one of those was a special session entitled ‘Maximising Africa's Blue economy’.

Minister Laporte was a member of a high level panel for this session, which addressed issues on the way forward and recommended critical actions required for Africa to maximise and grow its blue economy taking into account the effects of marine pollution, overfishing and climate change while encouraging investments.

The other panellists included Ghanaian Minister for Economic Infrastructure, Patrick Achi, and former South African Finance Minister, Trevor Manuel.

Minister Laporte was accompanied in Kigali by Jill Laporte, senior analyst in the External Finance Management Division of the Ministry of Finance, Trade and Investment.