World Bank delegation meets with high officials of the Ministry
June 14, 2021
A delegation from the Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Trade has met with the Executive Director of the World Bank, Africa Group 1 Constituency, this 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 here 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.
This 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 this morning was the Secretary of State within the Ministry, Patrick Payet and the Principal Secretary for Economic Planning, Mrs. Elizabeth Agathine.
Dr. Taufila 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, African Group 1 Constituency comprises of 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.
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