President Michel still faking investors confidence in the local economy

President Michel (righr) looking worn out and tired during his meeting with representative of BluePrint firm.

President Michel looking worn out and tired during his meeting with representative of BluePrint firm.

IT is now four years since President Michel walked through the oak doors at State House with the full blessing of his mentor to establish himself in the most powerful seat in the country. In all his four years as President, Michel has never shied away from playing the investors card. And he is still at it even though he has nothing in the form of dividend to the population at large to show for it.

Last week on Tuesday 8th April, 2008, three representatives of a major Kuwaiti business developer called on President Michel at State House. According to the government-controlled press, the investors are here to explore new investment opportunities. In a meeting with the local media, exclusively Seychelles Nation and SBC (Regar and Weekly not included) the three kings, who had just visited big J, said, according to the Seychelles Nation, that they will make huge investments here immediately.

Apparently the firm, BluePrint, represented by the three representatives who called on President Michel, is looking to invest in the African region. The firm is acting on the advice of the African Development Bank (ADB), which the Seychelles government is in arrears to on its loan repayment.

Please get a handkerchief before you read on because you might want to cry reading the rubbish that comes from the Seychelles Nation.

“And having seen the President, the country and the people, we need not look any further than Seychelles, which is a very stable country,” said one of the representatives of BluePrint, according to the Seychelles Nation. We would assume that it would make business sense for the three, Mr. Almelhem, Mr. Ahmed Alquraishi and Mr. Yousel Al Bader from BluePrint to at least have a look at the competitions in the region, such as Mauritius and other countries, where there are no shortages of foreign exchange. Or could it be the President on seeing them have offered them a deal that they cannot refuse like so many before them.

The Seychelles Nation reported that story on its front page the day after the visit at State House took place, Wednesday, 9th April 2008, under the title 'President's visit to Kuwait lures investors'. These people at the Seychelles Nation must be dumb, or, to look at this matter from a different perspective, they probably think we (the unassuming public) are stupid. The author of the Nation article in question wanted or had been ordered to create the impression that the numerous visits overseas by President Michel are finally bearing fruits. What a load of fertilizers!

The evidence that President Michel is achieving success in his many visits abroad is just not there. In fact all the indications are that it is a total failure. Why then did President Michel have to appoint Mr. Sivasankaran, Indian billionaire turned Seychellois, as Ambassador At Large just recently. This is evidence - if evidence is needed - that President Michel's effort at luring investors is proving unsuccessful.

The level of spin coming out of State House in trying to make President Michel look good is in fact having an adverse effect on the popularity rating of the President. With each day that goes by, more and more SPPF supporters are turning their backs to the ruling party, some expressing open dissatisfaction in the way Michel have been running the affairs of the state in the four years that he has been President. “Too many television appearances with nothing new to say”, according to a political observer.