Abacus rewards best employee and long-serving staff |16 December 2016
Stefannie Pool is the employee of the year 2016 for Abacus, an offshore financial firm based at the Global Village at Mont fleuri.
She was presented with her award and a voucher for a one-night stay at the Lemuria hotel on Praslin by guest of honour Wallace Cosgrow, Minister for Employment, Entrepreneurship Development and Business Innovation.
This took place in a reception held at the Wharf Hotel to mark the company’s 10th anniversary.
Also present at the event were past chairmen and past chief executives of the Financial Services Authority (ex-SIBA) – Conrad Benoiton, MNA Ahmed Afif and principal secretary for Investment and Industries in the Vice-President’s Office Dr Steve Fanny; as well as chief executive of Abacus Malika Jivan, co-founder of Abacus Anuj Sharma, past employees, staff and other invited guests.
Five other workers were rewarded for their length of service with Bernadette Commetant, Jenny Lespoire and Tarun Kamal who is based in the firm’s other office in India and who was not present, all clocking seven years.
Micheline Chang Lam was rewarded for six years of service while Premilah Hirani was awarded with the debut employee of the year award.
They all received commemorative trophies plus other prizes.
Employee of the year Stefannie Pool has been working as an IT support officer with Abacus for the past two years.
“I am very satisfied with my achievement even though it has not been easy and I am thankful for the support of my colleagues,” she said.
With different opportunities available in the financial industry, she encouraged young people to join the industry but only if they are motivated, patient and really interested in the job.
Abacus was set up as a corporate financial service provider in Febuary 2006 with only two people, CEO Malika Jivan and co-founder Anuj Sharma. It now employs twenty people. It provides the facilitation of onshore and offshore businesses to set up and get started.
Over the ten years Abacus has expanded its businesses to other countries and it has offices in India, Hong Kong and Mauritius.
Mr Sharma said that the company hopes to expand it services to other jurisdictions.
He thanked past and present employees and all other facilitators and stakeholders who have helped them in one way or another in making Abacus a success.
Congratulating the awardees for their wonderful work and commenting on Abacus’ ten years of success, Minister Cosgrow who incidentally was also celebrating his birthday on that day, said that the government will continue to encourage growth in small, micro and medium enterprises as it recognises the benefits gained from small companies and more specifically “it is important to help small companies like you that create jobs, make people feel at home and that also contribute towards revenue generation of the country”.
Minister Cosgrow encouraged more businesses like Abacus to seize the opportunity to set up, encourage more entrepreneurship thus creating more employment.
“This is extremely important if we want to see the economy of this country expand and we want to see more wealth created in this country,” he said, wishing the company and staff more success in their future endeavor.
Former CEO of FSA (ex-SIBA), Honourable Afif commended Abacus’ success on its determination and advocative principles which had led the company to grow and to expand.
With a negative perception through lack of information about the financial industry, Honourable Afif noted that people should try to understand as to what happens in the financial industry and to recognise that it employs a lot of people and can create a lot of jobs.
“This industry can create a lot of money with very little. All it requires is a supportive environment which is good modern laws, good accountants, good management practices which will bring a lot of businesses in different areas into Seychelles,” he added.
Honourable Afif also reminded Abacus and other stakeholders in the business that they have to be reliable, can deliver, mean what they say “or else people will not be receptive to do business with you”, and he wished the company all the best.
Dr Fanny congratulated Abacus and its staff for their hard work, saying that through offering a host of different portfolios and investment opportunities, a lot of jobs have been created.
Dr Fanny also said that he so often hears people complaining “it’s hard to work in the financial service industry”.
“My message to young Abacus employees and young graduates wishing to join the industry is that you need to work hard, because in the industry the going will get tough and the tough need to get going. Stay put, work hard and deliver and it’s only through this that you can bring about true results,” he said.
Former chairman of FSA, Conrad Benoiton, gave a brief history on the setting up of an offshore industry in 1995 initiated by former President Albert Rene and the creation of the Seychelles International Business Authority (SIBA).
He said all would not have been achievable without the drafting of serious legislation, recruitment of the right people to work with and the launching of the internet by the Atlas Company for Seychelles to be connected worldwide.
“This industry last year presented government with just under a hundred million rupees of dividends. It employs three-digit numbers of people. You have over sixty-five corporate service providers and over seventy thousand active International Business Companies (IBC) and this achievement goes to no other than people who are associated with this industry”.
He assured his continuous support to the industry and congratulated Abacus on its achievement.