Two famous personalities call on President Michel |22 July 2016

Two of the world’s famous personalities paid a courtesy call on President James Michel at State House yesterday morning.

They were former Nigerian President and army general Olusegun Obasanjo and Professor Joseph Stiglitz, an American economist, university professor and the recipient in 2001 of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences as well as a former senior vice-president and chief economist of the World Bank.

Both personalities are in Seychelles as guest speakers at the African Import-Export Bank (Afreximbank) meeting and seminars taking place here this week.

“Afreximbank’s is an appropriate vehicle in the promotion of development in Africa. Your presence will give added and valuable visibility to [Afreximbank’s] meeting,” said President Michel.

Speaking to the press after being received by President Michel, Mr Obasanjo commended Seychelles for its well-preserved environment noting that from what he had heard about Seychelles he had been imagining what it really looked like and now that he is here and experiencing it for himself he can only described it as “paradise on earth in terms of beauty, vegetation, sandy beaches. You have it all and then of course you have the peace and tranquility,” Mr Obasanjo said.

“Seychelles is small allright but quietly making progress,” he added, congratulating the government and people of Seychelles for the commendable development that is taking place here.

“The Afreximbank meeting here will further put Seychelles in the limelight and you cannot have a better means of showcasing what this country is doing and it’s all about its attraction for investment,” Mr Obasanjo added.

He noted that his talks with President Michel centred on matters relating to the economic development of their respective countries as well as the African continent, what can be done to increase trade between countries on the African continent.

During the Afreximbank seminars Mr Obasanjo said he is expected to address the issue of industrialisation. With his wealth of experience as the President of Nigeria Mr Obasanjo, a statesman and diplomat, said he will be talking about what a leader should do to encourage industrialisation.   

President Michel underlined the importance of Afreximbank’s meeting in Seychelles to promote import and export opportunities in Africa. Commenting on Professor Stiglitz’ involvement, he stated “We are confident that we will benefit from the ideas you will be sharing with us during the various sessions.”

Professor Stiglitz said it was an opportunity to discuss the Blue economy and a range of other issues with President Michel as well as the Minister for Finance, Trade and the Blue Economy, Jean-Paul Adam.

“For me the most interesting part of our conversation was about how Seychelles is making the Blue economy part of its development strategy, how it is encouraging Africa and the world to think about the Blue economy and how it has been adopted as part of the UN sustainable development goals,” Professor Stiglitz said.

Professor Stiglitz said he also had very interesting discussions with Minister Adam.

“I was really interested in the period back in 2007-2008 when you went through the economic crisis and the successful way Seychelles handled the problem. Today many other countries are suffering such crisis and facing difficult times,” he pointed out.

On his involvement in the Afreximbank meeting, Professor Stiglitz said he will be presiding sessions on some challenges of African development and the transformation of Africa’s economy, the importance of trade and finance for trade in Africa, the Bretton Woods as well as the issue of globalisation.

“I will also be stressing on how the impact of the IMF and the World Bank structural adjustment programmes in the 80s hurt the industrialisation of Africa,” he added.

He said that Africa’s industrialisation percentage today is lower than it was 30 years ago but that today is a real moment of opportunity for Africa because the relative cost of production is going up in China and the continent is becoming more competitive as education level rises.

“But the big question is what can Africa do now to seize this unique moment of opportunity to take advantage of industrialisation and economic transformation to increase the standard of living for people on the continent,” Professor Stiglitz asked.