Seychelles: more than 700 micro, small and medium enterprises access financing thanks to the African Development

Bank The number of MSMEs has almost doubled from 360 in 2015 to 719, in 2016 on an initial target of 540 MSMEs.

The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Development Program (https://bit.ly/3dr8Cgj) whose implementation was completed in June 2020, enabled 716 Seychelles MSMEs to access financing, indicates the project completion report published by the African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org/fr) on February 4, 2021. 

This program, launched in 2014, was funded to the tune of US $ 1.2 million by the African Development Bank’s Technical Assistance Fund for the Private Sector in Africa (FAPA). It removed two obstacles to the development of MSMEs in the 115-island Indian Ocean archipelago: difficulties in accessing finance and the lack of entrepreneurial skills. 

Thanks to its implementation, the number of MSMEs has almost doubled, from 360 in 2015 to 719, in 2016 on an initial target of 540 MSMEs. Loan recovery also improved, from 10% to 30% in 2015, to 90% in 2017. Seychelles MSMEs mainly benefited from the implementation of the project with access to funding from the Small Business Finance Agency (SBFA). 

They have benefited from a more favorable environment and less cumbersome procedures. They have also benefited from training programs run by the Small Business Promotion Agency (SenPA). These trainings included basic training in entrepreneurial and managerial skills, development of business plans for presentation to SBFA or other commercial lenders, and follow-up by verifying the strength of MSMEs. 

Also, 509 small and medium-sized enterprises received training in the context of the development of entrepreneurial skills and business management. To ensure the sustainability of the project, eight trainers and eight SeNPA staff received training in 2017. In addition, the government of Seychelles has provided systematic support to the MSME segment through a development strategy. The two agencies, SBFA and SenPA have benefited from institutional capacity building and improvement of their information management system.

In 2018, after obtaining the initially targeted results, the project had some savings, which allowed the execution of a number of additional activities. Thus, another training cycle was organized in favor of 200 MSMEs by the University of Seychelles and the Guy Morel Institute. For this cycle, the main focus was on financial management (an area in which participants in previous trainings requested more training). Two other achievements were obtained thanks to the savings made within the framework of the project, in particular a draft white paper for the simplification of the procedures for obtaining permits and the preparation of a draft new law on the issuance of building permits. 

“The project was implemented successfully. The output and result indicators were satisfactory, the main activities of the project having been carried out ", welcomed the African Development Bank in the report.

Cassien Tribunal Aungane, Editor