Esa, UniSey sign memorandum of understanding   |15 February 2024

Ms Lautoy and Ms Perreau signing the MoU (Photo: Kurtrine Albert)

The University of Seychelles has officially signed a memorandum of understanding with Enterprise Seychelles Agency which will reflect in different types of cooperation.

In a brief ceremony held yesterday afternoon at the University of Seychelles (UniSey) Mont Fleuri campus, chief executive of Enterprise Seychelles Agency (Esa) Lisa Lautoy and UniSey vice-chancellor Joëlle Perreau signed and exchanged the documents.

The ceremony also served as an opportunity to present certificates to 21 business owners who had followed a six-and-a-half-day training under the Seed Capital Grant scheme hosted by Esa in collaboration with UniSey.

In her address, Ms Lautoy explained that discussions with the University of Seychelles started earlier this year on the need to further develop their trainings, especially for the Seed Capital applicants.

“We noticed a number of weaknesses in certain areas, which if attended to, with the proper guidance, could help their businesses to further flourish,” said Ms Lautoy.

She said the memorandum of understanding (MoU) solidifies the importance of the collaboration as well as pave the way for more discussions and opportunities between Esa and UniSey.

For her part, Ms Perreau thanked Esa for the trust and noted that the university was fully invested in the venture, making sure that everything goes well from the start.

“We are proud to have completed this first training with Esa,” she stated.

In addition, vice-chancellor Perreau said it has always been the role of the University of Seychelles to ensure that people have the capacity to undertake their duties.

“Now we have participants having wonderful ideas and I really hope that we have been able to help you, for your business to grow. With Esa, I am sure that you will be supported throughout and make use of it.”

She said the training process was reciprocal. “We have also benefited from this experience.”

Two trainees – Roland Changty Young and Sylvie Changty Young – said they were grateful for the experience. They were both impressed with the level of training and shared that it was at the finish line that they got to grips with the intensity and impact that it will have for the future of their business.

“We really feel like we are without words. We see that the training has helped us out a lot to make sure that we progress and now we cannot wait to give back what we’ve learnt,” they stated.

Some of the topics addressed during the sessions were documentation and record keeping, how to manage budgets, marketing and promotions, as well as intellectual property among others.

Sunny Esparon