World Bank team on working mission |15 June 2021

The World Bank team (left) during their meeting with Minister Hassan and his delegation

A delegation from the Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Trade met with the executive director of the World Bank, Africa Group 1 Constituency, yesterday morning at Liberty House.

The ministry’s delegation was headed by Minister Naadir Hassan.

The official mission of the delegation, headed by Dr Taufila Nyamadzabo, is to consult with government officials on the development challenges and opportunities facing the country and discuss ways in which the relationship between the government of Seychelles and the World Bank Group can be strengthened.

Yesterday morning, the discussion allowed both delegations to discuss the performance of Seychelles current portfolio with the institution and the country’s Covid-19 response and recovery.

Minister Hassan laid down the current economic and financial situation of the country, which has been devastated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Seychelles might be classified as a high income country, but the pandemic has shown that we are very much vulnerable to external shocks, especially as we are a small island state with a small economy.”

He explained that this specificity of being a small island with a small economy, but classified by international institution as ‘high income’, is not really being addressed.

“This is the time that we really need financial and technical assistance from our international partners, so we need to accelerate the current efforts to see how small economies can be assisted.”

Dr Nyamadzabo acknowledged that even with the ‘high income’ classification of Seychelles that does not “reduce its vulnerability to external shocks”.

“Budget limitation is a huge issue for small states and small economy,” said Dr Nyamadzabo.

To note, World Bank is currently providing Seychelles with budget support of $30 million in the form of social welfare reform.

Present at the meeting yesterday morning was the secretary of state within the Ministry, Patrick Payet and the principal secretary for Economic Planning, Elizabeth Agathine.

Dr Nyamadzabo was appointed executive director of the World Bank, Africa Group 1 Constituency, in November 2020, for a tenure of 2 years.

The World Bank, Africa Group 1 Constituency comprises Botswana, Burundi, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Press release from the Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning & Trade