COVID-19 Crisis Response Emergency Development Policy Financing (WB-P174198)

Countries
  • Seychelles
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Financial Institutions
  • World Bank (WB)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Approved
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
U
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
Jun 25, 2020
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
Republic of Seychelles
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Education and Health
  • Law and Government
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 15.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Project Cost (USD)
$ 15.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Bank Documents
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ WB website

Updated in EWS Jun 27, 2021

Disclosed by Bank Jun 6, 2020

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Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

According to bank documents, the overall program development objective is to support the Republic of Seychelles in its response and recovery from COVID-19 crisis by (1) enhancing response mechanisms in health, social protection and private sector; and (2) supporting sustainable post-crisis recovery through strengthened financial systems and climate resilience.

The operation’s first pillar - Protecting Lives and Livelihoods - support the adoption of the government’s Response Plan to COVID-19; the reinforcement of social assistance programs to aid vulnerable households; and the deployment of financial mechanisms to manage the adverse economic impact of COVID-19 in the private and financial sector. Through PA 1, the Government approved the Seychelles Response Plan for Covid-19, which defines the strategy for the immediate response to the first wave of COVID-19 and lays the foundation for subsequent reopening and testing strategies. PA 2 includes the increase in the allocation to Social Welfare Assistance and the Unemployment Relief Scheme, which has allowed the GoS to provide coverage to informal workers or others who were facing hardships. Through PA 3, the government aims to guarantee the salaries of employees in the formal private sector and temporarily lessening the tax burden for businesses, enhancing liquidity and maintaining their viability during the pandemic. Finally, PA 4 includes the approval of the Central Bank Act, 2020 (Amendment) and the Financial Institutions Act, 2020 (Amendment) to allow the Central Bank to maintain a healthy financial sector for a rapid and balanced economic recovery.

The second pillar - Protecting the Future - comprises prior actions to promote transparency in the domestic financial sector; and to tackle the challenges posed by climate change. Specifically, PA 5 includes the approval of the new anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) Act 2020 and Beneficial Ownership (BO) Act
2020. The implementation of the AML/CFT and BO laws will assist to promote transparency and better align the country’s legal framework with international standards by introducing new measures to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. PA 6 supports the Cabinet of Ministers approval of the first national Climate Change Policy and, through it, the
establishment of the National Climate Change Council. This will facilitate a coordinated, coherent, proac proactive and effective response to the local, regional and global challenges and opportunities presented by Climate Change.

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

World Bank:
Sashana Whyte, Brenden Jongman
Economist

Borrower:
Republic of Seychelles
Elizabeth Agathine
Principal Secretary for Economic Planning
elizabeth@finance.gov.sc

Implementing Agencies:
Ministry of Finance, Trade, Investment and Economic Planning
Elizabeth Agathine
Principal Secretary Economic Planning Department
elizabeth@finance.gov.sc

Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change
Wills Agricole
Primary Secretary
w.agricole@meteo.gov.sc

Ministry of Health
Bernard Valentin
Primary Secretary
PS@moh.gov.sc

Wills Agricole
Primary Secretary
w.agricole@meteo.gov.sc 

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF WORLD BANK

The World Bank Inspection Panel is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who believe they are likely to be, or have been, adversely affected by a World Bank-financed project. If you submit a complaint to the Inspection Panel, they may investigate to assess whether the World Bank is following its own policies and procedures for preventing harm to people or the environment. You can contact the Inspection Panel or submit a complaint by emailing ipanel@worldbank.org. You can learn more about the Inspection Panel and how to file a complaint at: https://www.inspectionpanel.org.

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How it works