Up Close … with Richard Labrosse, senior corporate and compliance manager at Keyway (Seychelles) Limited (Icsp), regional election observer and chairman of LAMP |25 April 2017

‘My hope is to help my community, especially the youths’

By Marylene Julie

Richard Marc Labrosse of Belvedere, in the district of Plaisance, is a senior corporate and compliance manager at Keyway (Seychelles) Limited (Icsp), an international corporate service provider based in Seychelles. He is also chairman of an association called LAMP (an NGO dealing with young people having difficulties in society especially those at school level.

Born on September 3, 1984, Richard attended Plaisance primary school from crèche to P6. The first two years of his secondary education (S1 to S2) were spent at Plaisance school and then moved to Mont Fleuri secondary school to complete the remaining three years (S3-S5). Afterwards Richard went to the Hotel School of the Beach Comber Training Academy in Mauritius where he followed several training in administration. He then followed a two-year course in Small Business Leadership at the University of Seychelles (UniSey).

Richard followed other courses such as Anti-Money Laundering at the International Compliance Association in Manchester, UK and attended several trainings in financial related subjects.  Apart from studies related to his current job, Richard also learned how to become a peace keeper with the East African Standby Force (EASF) where he followed several trainings in Kenya.

Richard has two brothers, is not married and has no children.

Love for the job

“I enjoy my job. I make sure my clients’ and my country’s reputation is always well preserved, even if sometimes it is challenging. But there are also challenges. At the moment the international financial sector is under the microscope where better, new regulatory guidelines, is the competition we have with other jurisdictions. But our main focus is on good compliance practice rather than competition,” Richard says.

Referring to what one needs to do such a job, Richard says very good analytical skills, to be well versed in the financial market and definitely the education package from the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ICSA), which is an organisation for company secretaries, or management professionals responsible for ensuring that corporate decisions are carried out.

“If you have the necessary baggage and understand what you are doing, I don’t think you will have that many challenges. But challenges exist in every category of work,” Richard says with a smile.

Childhood days

Reminiscing about his childhood days, Richard describes it as a rich one with nice experiences and adventures.

“I grew up with my late great grandmother at Belvedere. She was called ‘Yaya’. She gave me all the good tools I am using now in my everyday life. I was brought up with good values and still earns respect in my neighbourhood. I later on lived with my mum and continued the life of high discipline. I spent time running around with my cousin around the Rochon River. That’s what I called a rich life, rich with good memories. Also during that time, the community was about self respect,” says Richard.

Even if it was fun, Richard had something he enjoyed most during that period. And it was the mischief he was involved in.

“As a child, I always had great enjoyment during school holidays when we grouped up with my siblings and friends to go and look for the best mango tree around. This ended us in trouble at times especially if my mum was not aware of my whereabouts,” he says.

But he is of the view that childhood days nowadays are very different and one of the reasons for that is young people have more choices and one of them is access to electronic gadgets which he says was luxury in his days.

Bad experiences

But it was not only fun days for Richard. He also went through bad experiences.

“My worst experience so far was when I lost my beloved mum to cancer. As we were close it was a bit difficult for me to accept her passing. But during her lifetime she always told me that no matter what happens, she will always be around me. That gave me more energy to keep the family strong as I am the eldest,” says Richard.

Good and memorable times

“My good and memorable experiences were during my international electoral observer missions in Africa, where I interacted with several high officials, like the last time I shook hands with Goodluck Jonathan, the former President of Nigeria. He was my mission leader in Zambia’s general election. I also met the first female President of Malawi Dr Joyce Bamba. Of course my graduation day with UniSey was also of great importance to me. And considering my background and my current situation, I don’t know what would have happened to my life without God in it. Having trust and faith in Him is essential,” says Richard.

Hobbies and interests

Richard loves reading, especially books related to political science. He is also the chairman of an association called LAMP (a non-governmental organisation (NGO) dealing with young people having difficulties in society, especially those in schools. LAMP has been in operation since October 2011 and has as mission to help make a difference in the lives of troubled youths of Seychelles. Together with partners, the NGO has organised several activities to help the youths.

And as a regional election observer, Richard has observed elections in countries within the Southern African Development Community (SADC), African Union (AU) and in seven other countries on the African continent.

As pastime, Richard loves cooking and watching movies. He is always thinking big, outside the box to find ways and means to help those affected young people.

Dreams and hopes for the future

What would Richard change in life if he had the power to do so?

“First of all I would bring my mum and dad back to life, and then make the most of it from their time with me. Also I would make people around the globe understand and accept each other, by loving and caring. And if I had a magic wand, I would make my brothers and sisters on heroin get back life. It’s sad to see the downward path our society has taken in this aspect.

My hope for the future is to help my community, especially the young ones in my district Plaisance where I was born and raised. I can share with them my life stories as motivation to get them moving in the right direction. I can maybe create a platform where we can build space for other youths to come share their vision for the well being of our community and for our beloved country,” Richard says.