AfDB executive director pays courtesy call on President Ramkalawan |08 April 2021

President Ramkalawan and Mr Cheptoo in discussion (Photo: Thomas Meriton)

The executive director of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Amos Kipronoh Cheptoo, paid a courtesy call on President Wavel Ramkalawan yesterday morning at State House.

In this capacity, Mr Cheptoo represents Kenya, Eritrea, Rwanda, Seychelles, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.

“My mission to Seychelles is to brief the Minister for Finance and the Governor of the Central Bank on the relationship between Seychelles and the AfDB which is very warm and cordial. I also intend to visit projects that have been funded by the bank and meet the ministries that benefited from resources and other kind of support from the bank,” stated Mr Cheptoo.

He arrived in the country on Tuesday and he has already had extensive discussions with the Ministry of Finance. To recall, in June 2020 Seychelles received a loan of $10 million from the AfDB to support the government's Covid-19 response programme. The loan was used for macroeconomic stabilisation, strengthening the national health responses to the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as safeguarding livelihoods and social safety nets.

“The relationship between the bank and the country is very strong and we have a clear plan to support the government and its economic aspirations, especially in this time where we have the economic challenges brought by the pandemic. Last year we supported the government with $10 million and we are currently working on another such facility to help Seychelles recover fully from the pandemic. I am glad to see the recovery process going on very well. The government has done very well in vaccinating over 60% of the population and we have also seen the hotels have started to recover, the occupancy is very high. We are moving in the right direction and we are working really well with the government to make sure that Seychelles go back to its pre-covid economic state. Of course the pandemic has exposed some structural weaknesses in the economy which are being appreciated by the government. It is going to take advantage of these challenges to make sure it comes out and build stronger so that we can have a very resilient economy,” noted Mr Cheptoo.

Once again, Seychelles can count on the AfDB for a direct help towards the budget and other sectors of the economy. Seychelles is a shareholder of the bank and is benefiting from that relationship.

Mr Cheptoo was accompanied to State House by the Minister for Finance, Economic Planning and Trade Naadir Hassan and the Governor of the Central Bank of Seychelles, Caroline Abel.

Vidya Gappy