As part of his weekly visit to institutions, President Danny Faure visited the Seychelles Ports Authority (SPA) this morning. He was welcomed by the Chairperson of the Board, Commodore Paul Hodoul, and the Deputy CEO, Dr Egbert Moustache.

The Seychelles Port Authority was created on 15 October 2004, with its mission to safeguard the maritime gateway to the Seychelles socio-economy by providing adequate and reliable port infrastructure and efficient services.

The President was given a tour of the ex-Coast Guard and Reflecs 3 centre area, where he was given a full update on the Mahé quay rehabilitation and extension project at the New Port. The port extension will cost around 35 million Euros and is being financed through loans from the ‘Agence Française de Développement’ (AFD) and the European Investment Bank (EIB), as well as through a grant.

President Faure also visited the workshop and tug boat compound, control room tower, and various departments within SPA, including strategies, projects, and infrastructure, procurement, internal audit, accounts, business development, and human resources. During his tour, he was updated on the work of the different departments, and staff were able to discuss their challenges as well as progress that has been made.

At the end of his visit, the President chaired a meeting with the Chairperson and management team of the SPA. During the meeting, the SPA management team shared an overview of various projects that the Seychelles Ports Authority is planning to implement, including the port redevelopment on Mahé, La Digue and Praslin, the Bel Ombre jetty redevelopment, and renovation of the Industrial Fishing Port. They also discussed their operations and constraints, and areas they plan to improve on.

President Faure described his visit as fruitful and said that he is satisfied with what he has seen. He said that he gained a more holistic understanding of SPA’s operation,  how the projects will be implemented, and said he is confident they are going in the right direction.