Seychelles

French presence

Consulate: Consular chancery of Port Louis (Mauritius)
French community in Seychelles: As of 31 December 2019, there were 434 French people on the register, 50% of whom are binationals.
Seychelles community in France: About 300 people

Visits

On 11 November 2018, the President of the Republic of Seychelles, Danny Faure, attended the centenary commemorations of the First World War and the Paris Peace Forum. The most recent visit by a French President to Seychelles, however, was Mitterrand in 1990.

Ambassadors

French Ambassador in Seychelles: Dominique Mas
Seychelles Ambassador in France: Sylvestre Radegonde

Cultural, scientific and technical cooperation

In May 2016, an agreement was signed between the Seychelles Ministry of Tourism and Culture and the French Musée National de la Marine (National Naval Museum) which will provide the Seychelles government with its expertise (e.g. training) for the creation of a Seychelles naval museum. For its part, Seychelles will support the national museums of the French Navy by providing its expertise in the repair and renovation of marine models. Fruitful cooperation is also being prepared with the Paris Natural History Museum.

The new University of Seychelles (founded in 2011) has partnerships with the Universities of Bordeaux, Paris and La Réunion, with an agreement set to be signed soon with the latter to train specialized doctors.

Other cooperation

In 2003, a framework cooperation agreement was signed between Seychelles and La Réunion (since renewed tacitly). It is being implemented through action plans, the last of which was signed in July 2013. It covers areas as varied as education, the environment, tourism, health, French-language teaching and energy, with an annual budget of between €300,000 and €400,000. Eight International Solidarity Volunteers (VSI) from La Réunion have been posted to various Seychelles ministries and administrations, as well as to the Alliance Française branch in Victoria, via funding from the European Union’s Interreg instrument.