SeychellesExecutiveLeadershipProgramme for government officials |27 October 2023

Top government officials embark on leadership training programme

By Patrick Joubert

Twenty-seven high executive officials in government, mostly principal secretaries, have embarked on a four-month leadership training programme to develop their capacity to inspire change that will shape the future of the government, while making a positive impact on society.

Dubbed the ‘Seychelles Executive Leadership Programme’, the training taking place at The Guy Morel Institute (TGMI) is being supported by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) through its Government Experience Exchange Office programme. It follows the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Seychelles and the UAE in March 2022, during the World Government summit in Dubai.

The ‘Seychelles Executive Leadership Programme’ was launched by the Minister for Investment, Entrepreneurship and Industry, Devika vidot, in a ceremony held yesterday morning at TGMI, Majoie.

Present were President Wavel Ramkalawan, cabinet of ministers, other high government officials, the UAE chargé d’affaires to Seychelles, Ahmed Saeed Alneyadi, as well as representatives from UAE’s Government Experience Exchange Office.

Throughout the programme, participants will be equipped with techniques and skills required to become familiar with best international practices so as to build on the capabilities and skills they need to succeed in their respective fields and sectors.

It will also provide them with strategic foresight skills that will allow them to create functional and operational views for the future, strengthen their management acumen and interpersonal skills to build effective teams, improve their core analytical skills required for approaching business challenge holistically and making better executive decisions, among others.

The idea is to get them as leaders to formulate strategies and develop policies suited in Seychelles’ context that will have a positive impact on government and the society.

The training modules, which will be done physically and virtually, will be conducted by facilitators from the Government Experience Exchange Office in the UAE.

The local trainees will also get to meet up with officials in the UAE to exchange experiences, explore the best practices in the various fields, highlight some of the country’s challenges and come up with new and innovative solutions.          

When launching the programme, Minister Vidot said that given the government has identified the modernisation of the public service as one of the key areas to focus on for the country’s transformation, inevitably, public servants, especially at the leadership level, will need to be the ones to spearhead the next level of the socio-economic development.

“It is thus imperative that the officials leading the public service are empowered to bring about this transformation. If we are to improve our service delivery to meet the expectations of our people, we need to change how we do things. We should aspire to become a public service whereby a high standard should be the norm, rather than an exception,” Minister Vidot said.

She added the training has come at an opportune time where the government is embracing results-based management, where much focus is on foresight planning, managing teams and performance, making efficient use of resources, among others.

“Rest assured that the government will continue to support you in your growth -- and the launching of the Executive Leadership Programme, which is being fully supported by the Government of the UAE, is the first step in delivering on this mandate,” said the minister.

She added that the country expect to see a difference in terms of better planning, better work processes to enhance service delivery, a reduction in public complaints, seeing new initiatives taking shape and of course the public experiencing the results.

For his part, Mr Saeed Alneyadi said the programme was a testament to the power of international collaboration and the shared vision of two nations, committed to a brighter future, a partnership that has transcended borders to become a symbol of cooperation, friendship and progress started over four decades ago and witnessed by many milestones.

“With the launch of this important programme, we reaffirm that this is just the start, as we invest in the future leaders who will shape the destiny of Seychelles. Together, we can build a better tomorrow, not only for our two nations but for the entire world,” he said.

Manal Binsalem, the Government Experience Exchange Office team leader, said that UAE is committed to sharing and exchanging its successful knowledge, stories and practices with Seychelles. She noted that since the MoU, in March last year, the Government Experience Exchange Office has conducted more than 20 workshops in Seychelles, in different fields.

Speaking to the media, the chief secretary of the Public Service Bureau and training participant, Shella Mohideen, said that given the reform the government has embarked on to transform and modernise the country, to ease and to improve the lives of the citizens, the programme is to empower policy makers to be better at planning and making sound policies and strategies that will bring prosperity to the nation, for now and beyond.

“We have to look at where the world is heading in terms of development and Seychelles is able to keep up with those developments, which is suited for its people. We want to have leaders who would know what is good for us to follow in terms of those developments taking place in the world, without having to copy, things that will suit us as a society,” Mrs Mohideen said.

She noted that given the UAE has come out as the most effective government in the world, they must be doing something right, which our leaders can learn from, and adapt to our own context.

It was Eman Omran, head of Global Leadership and Capacity Building in the Government Experience Exchange Office, who gave the overview of the four-months programme.

Text & photos by Patrick Joubert