Seychelles

Seychelles, in the Western Indian Ocean, has a population of 91,530 inhabitants over 115 islands and one of the highest living standards in Africa. It is classified as a high-income country.

Tourism and related sectors are the mainstay of economic activity along with tuna fishing and processing. However, the country remains confronted with a number of constraints typical of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) including domestic vulnerability to external shock, as well as human resources constraints (mismatch between demand and supply).

France is the EU Member State present in Seychelles.

The entire Multiannual Indicative Programmes (MIP) will be committed by way of a Cooperation Facility (CF) which is the preferred approach on the following grounds:

Institutional capacity building is particularly needed in a country like Seychelles given its small population and high brain drain.

Given the size of the envelope, it appears more appropriate to have one single programme and avoid excessive dispersal of funds which jeopardises impact.

The CF will allow the consolidation of work that the EU has already engaged in with Seychelles in the environment, climate change and good governance fields.

The Multiannual Indicative Programme (MIP) for Seychelles for 2021-2027 amounts to €2 million.

The support will focus in particular on Green Deal priorities such as:

• The fight against climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution and promotion of a circular economy.
• Strengthening fundamental labour standards thus preventing all aspects of child labour.
• Capacity development and institutional building, including through technical assistance and exchange of public expertise, such as TAIEX and Twinning and the participation of Seychelles in EU Programmes and cooperation with EU Agencies.
• Supporting policy dialogues: events, conferences, studies, fellowships, and exchange platforms to support sector dialogues leading to policy reforms and engagement with governments and other stakeholders.
• Financing EU communication, including strategic communication and the fight against disinformation and visibility actions on EU cooperation and public diplomacy interventions to promote EU policies as well as its multilateral agenda in the country.
• The gender dimension, youth participation and the skills needed for an inclusive green transition will all be taken into due consideration as cross-cutting issues.

EU delegation to Seychelles

EU-Eastern and Southern Africa trade