Indian Achievers’ Awards |09 May 2022

Mr Estico receiving the award from Dr Srimathy Kesan in the presence of his wife and daughter (Photo: Louis Toussaint)

Xavier Estico receives CEO of the Year 2021 gold award

Seychellois Xavier Estico is the recipient of the gold award for CEO of the Year 2021 of the Indian Achievers’ Awards.

Mr Estico received his prize from Dr Srimathy Kesan from Space Kidz India on Friday April 29 at the STC conference room during the ceremony to reward students who had taken part in various science and technologically driven competitions ‒ the First Global 2021, the First Roboco Challenge, the Africa Code Week Challenge, and the Balloon Satellite training ‒ as part of the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (Stem) programme.

Formerly the chief executive of the National Institute for Science, Technology and Innovation (Nisti), Mr Estico is presently the director general of the division of science, technology and innovation (DSTI) within the Ministry of Investment, Entrepreneurship and Industry (MIEI).

In his note of appreciation and gratitude, Mr Estico said: "This award is for Seychelles. As a Seychellois when I achieve something, my country achieves it with me. I was offered to stay in the United States of America (USA) when I received a distinction for my Masters in Aeronautical Science, but I do not regret taking the decision to come and contribute to the advancement of science, technology and innovation (STI) and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Stem) education in Seychelles. Nine years after returning from the USA, we are all celebrating great achievements at national, regional and global levels."

He also thanked his family, especially his wife for enduring the challenges of life for him to reach this stage of his life, stating that behind any successful man is a woman. Last but not least, he expressed gratitude to his very able staff members who started as the National Institute for Science, Technology and Innovation (Nisti) in 2014 and are still working with DSTI. Without your hard work, passion and dedication to our endeavours, I would not have achieved this award. Thank you all, who in one way or another has supported me through.

Mr Estico’s previous positions have been in different management positions at Air Seychelles with the last position as international administrative flight operations manager.

His academic background extends from pedagogy, agronomical sciences, business administration and aeronautical sciences. He is a Master’s degree holder in all three disciplines, except for pedagogy, in which he holds a certificate in education.

The institutions he attended were: the Seychelles Teacher Training College, Institute of Higher Agricultural Sciences, Havana, Cuba; University of Southampton, UK, and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Worldwide, USA.

His greatest achievement in the field of scientific research was the feasibility study of the use of local substrates in commercial hydroponics. The results from his research supported the development of a large scale commercial hydroponics venture with the total usage of local substrates.

He was also successful in introducing tissue-cultured banana plants into large-scale commercial venture as a pilot project.

He completed his latest Master’s degree programme in Aeronautical Sciences at the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Worldwide, USA. His Capstone Project (Dissertation) entitled: ‘The Impact of NextGen Capabilities and Technologies on Tampa International Airport’, Florida, USA was among the first baseline assessments of the Next Generation Technologies and Capabilities in US airspace management. He completed the programme with distinction (4.0 GPA) and his work has been recommended for further studies.

Mr Estico is about to complete a Harvard Kennedy School executive education programme towards an executive certificate in economic development and has recently been awarded distinction in a Nasa course in satellite observations for analysing natural hazards on small island nations. Some of his major achievements in his tenure of the STI institutions are:

• Setting up of Nisti in 2014 from a white paper stage.

• In 2014, led a Knowledge-economy assessment based on the World Bank methodology to rank Seychelles’ knowledge-economic index.

• Developed and launched the national STI policy and strategy 2016 - 2025, which is the roadmap for Seychelles to transit to an innovation-driven and knowledge-based economy.

According to the organisers of the Indian Achievers’ Awards “Mr Estico is being appreciated not only as a visionary leader but as a team builder in his working environment and inspiration to the young generation. Above all he has earned respect in the field of STI beyond the national boundary, making Nisti a knowledge contributor in the region and the continent of Africa as whole.”