en
Co-funded by the European Union
Co-funded by the European Union
Location
Seychelles
Topic
Business Regulation and Policy, Green Economy
Status
Completed
Year
2022-2023
External shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic have severely affected the economy of the Seychelles and have shown a reliance on the tourism (and to a lesser extent fisheries) sector.
The Ministry of Investment, Entrepreneurship and Industry (MIEI) of the Seychelles requested support to develop a new industrial policy for the country. The islands’ economy should become more diversified and resilient to support the transformative economic agenda of the country with positive impacts on different sections of society, including women.
Through this intervention, a draft industrial policy and action plan were developed. The development of the draft policy was based on evidence and stakeholder consultations.
The focus of the development of the policy was economic diversification and resilience to support the transformative economic agenda of the country. This includes the greening of industries, such as encouraging waste-based manufacturing products to strengthen the circular economy. The impact on women`s economic empowerment was considered during the public consultation processes by actively involving women business organisations. The expectation of this policy is to promote diversification towards higher-value added manufacturing activities, which means an opportunity for different sections of the society – including women – to engage in new sectors and participate in the various incentives schemes that may be promoted by this policy, such as opportunities for re-skilling and technical trainings in the field.
In September 2023 – five months after the end of the ICR support – the Government of the Seychelles approved the new industrial policy. The policy is already being used to inform the review of Government programmes, such as grant schemes and to feed into the development of technical and vocational training programmes. Further, the action plan to implement the policy has been fed into the existing Monitoring and Evaluation system of the country.
“Many of the challenges that we face in the Seychelles can be solved through the empowerment of women. …Through this policy, we can improve the employment opportunities of women and build the capacities for them to do more as compared to what they are doing now which is still focused in traditional sectors… providing jobs in the manufacturing sector can improve the opportunities”.
Rosemary Elizabeth
Chairwoman of Women in Action and Solidarity (WASO)
“The direction of this policy is to move towards a green transformation of the industrial sector. I believe this is the moment for all sectors of the economy to embrace this green transformation and work towards this goal.”
Tony Imaduwa
Principal Secretary at Climate Change and Energy Department
