President Dr Patrick Herminie chaired a cabinet meeting in Victoria on Wednesday, 8 July 2026, where ministers approved a cluster of economic reforms. The centrepiece is the new Seychelles Sovereign Investment Fund, alongside a continental trade hub and a fresh electricity relief measure for households.
Cabinet approved the establishment of the Seychelles Sovereign Investment Fund as a national investment institution, according to the State House press office. The fund is designed to support strategic investments and strengthen the country’s fiscal resilience. It will also build long-term savings for future generations of Seychellois.
Officials say the Seychelles Sovereign Investment Fund will be established under a dedicated act of parliament. Governance will follow international best practice, with an emphasis on transparency, accountability and sound financial management. No timeline for the legislation has yet been published.
The fund sits alongside a separate decision to anchor a continental digital trade infrastructure project on the islands. Cabinet approved the establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Area Digital Trade Corridor headquarters in Seychelles, positioning the archipelago as the administrative hub for a continent wide digital trade ecosystem, State House confirmed.
The digital trade initiative aims to strengthen supply chain connectivity and support the Africa Commodities Exchange, while opening new avenues for investment and skilled employment. It builds on groundwork laid earlier in the year, when the AfCFTA Secretariat signed a memorandum of understanding with the Seychelles government and Quest Ghana Limited in March to develop the islands as a digital commerce gateway, with an initial pilot in the fisheries sector.
Beyond the Seychelles Sovereign Investment Fund and the trade corridor, cabinet also tackled the rising cost of electricity. Ministers approved the July 2026 Fuel Cost Adjustment, which shields the first 400 kilowatt hours of monthly domestic consumption from any tariff increase. The State House statement explains that the cost of the relief will be recovered through a modest adjustment on consumption above that threshold, alongside revised tariffs for commercial and government customers.
The measure effectively shifts the financial burden of rising fuel costs away from ordinary households and onto heavier consumers. It reflects a broader pattern across cabinet’s July agenda, where social protection was paired with fiscal reform.
A further plank of that reform touches Seychelles’ offshore financial sector. Cabinet approved amendments to the International Business Companies Act to open public access to information on current company directors, State House said. The changes require first directors to be appointed within thirty days of incorporation and introduce new disclosure rules for nominee directors.
Government officials frame the corporate transparency amendments as preparation for the 2027 ESAAMLG Mutual Evaluation, the regional peer review that assesses compliance with anti money laundering and counter terrorism financing standards. A parallel set of amendments to the Trusts Act, 2021, was also approved, aimed at improving access to beneficial ownership information for regulators.
Taken together, the cabinet decisions point to a government trying to diversify beyond tourism and fisheries while shoring up its international financial reputation. The Seychelles Sovereign Investment Fund gives the state a formal vehicle for channelling revenue into long term national savings, something small island economies in the Indian Ocean have generally lacked.
Another crucial benefit of the Seychelles Sovereign Investment Fund it it could also provide a mechanism for financing future strategic investments while preserving national wealth.
For the AfCFTA project, Seychelles is positioning its high internet penetration and existing financial services expertise as an advantage over larger, less digitally ready African economies. The Secretariat’s own engagement with Vice President Sebastien Pillay earlier this year had already flagged digital trade as the most realistic route for a geographically isolated island state to participate meaningfully in continental commerce.
Whether the Seychelles Sovereign Investment Fund delivers on its fiscal resilience mandate will depend on the enabling legislation cabinet has yet to table. For now, the announcement marks one of the most significant economic policy packages to emerge from Victoria this year.
