The President of the Republic, Mr Danny Faure, was the guest of honour at the ceremony to acknowledge Seychelles’ position in the World Bank Human Capital Index, held at State House this morning.
In delivering his remarks at the ceremony, in the presence of Ministers, SS, Principal Secretaries and invited guests, the President announced that Seychelles has been listed by the World Bank as having a Human Capital Index (HCI) of 0.68, and is ranked 43rd out of 157 countries. It has the best HCI in Africa and the region.
“We are first in the region and first in Africa. The next African country is in 52nd place. Directly above us are Greece and Luxembourg. Directly behind us Bulgaria and the highly revered Chile in South America. Our score of 68% means that for the 4 babies who were born yesterday at the Seychelles Hospital, they each have a 68% chance of reaching their full potential as an adult,” said President Faure.
In comparing the Seychelles performance to that of other countries, President Faure stated that in Singapore, the country which came out first on this index, a child has 88% chance of achieving its full potential while in the United States, this is 76%.
President Faure highlighted that that the World Bank has confirmed that Seychelles has made the most significant progress in the world in terms of human capital development over the last 5 years. An accomplishment made through hard work, joint effort and the policies in place.
“A tiny group of islands, thousands of kilometres from the nearest continent, with less than a hundred thousand people. Today, we are 43rd in terms of the chances that we give our new-borns to succeed in life. This has been a long journey. A journey of hard work by our citizens. A journey of us working together. And a journey of a Government committed to people-centred development and the policies that are required to see it through,” said the President.
The President noted that the Government has over the years, remained loyal to the principles of free education and free healthcare. “We have used the beauty of our islands to foster a vibrant tourism sector which is the source of a large portion of the taxes which funds these policies. Our social safety net ensures that even for those who are jobless, their children need not go hungry, their children can still get access to school and a free meal,” he continued.
The publication of the Human Capital Index is also intended to motivate countries to assess their systems of human development, to establish their current status, and to set quality standards and mechanisms for measured growth in years to come.
Full speech of President Faure can be read at http://www.statehouse.gov.sc/speeches.php?news_id=4157
Editor’s Note:
- More details about the Human Capital Project are available from the World Bank website, from which a copy of the Human Capital Project Report may be downloaded:
http://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/human-capital