Seychelles Rolls Out Business Incubator for African Youth and Women Entrepreneurs
VICTORIA, Seychelles —
Vice-President Sebastien Pillay on Monday presided over the launch of the Business Incubator for African Youth and Women Entrepreneurs (BIAYWA) project at the Eden Bleu Hotel, marking Seychelles’ entry as a national chapter of the African Union Development Agency – New Partnership for Africa’s Development “Creating Opportunities for Youth and Women in Africa” (COYWA) programme.
The initiative, valued at approximately US $300,000, will deliver a dedicated business incubator in the Perseverance district, with construction expected to begin immediately. The facility will house six tonnes of industrial-grade equipment already in storage awaiting installation, and infrastructure works, equipment installation and specialised training are expected to be completed within three to six months. COMFWB will provide capacity-building initiatives to equip young entrepreneurs with the skills needed to produce high-value goods for niche markets, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa Federation of Women in Business (COMFWB) said.
The launch forms part of the wider COYWA programme, a five-year AUDA-NEPAD initiative aligned with the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and developed in partnership with the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation, the AUDA-NEPAD agency said. The Memorandum of Cooperation for COYWA was signed in Brussels on 19 March 2024 and the programme was officially launched in Madrid in January 2025. Its three pillars are skills development, socio-economic inclusion, and the BIAYWE support to business incubators for women and young entrepreneurs.
Speaking at Monday’s launch, Vice-President Pillay acknowledged that the initiative provides entrepreneurs with the tools and support needed to succeed in today’s dynamic economy, while the First Lady, Mrs Véronique Herminie, affirmed Seychelles’ full embrace of the COYWA vision and pledged continued government support to ensure tangible lasting benefits.
Among those present were Vice-President Pillay, First Lady Véronique Herminie, ministers, secretaries of state, principal secretaries, members of the National Assembly, Comesa Secretary General Chileshe Mpundu Kapwepwe, and representatives from Comesa, COMFWB, AUDA-NEPAD and the United Nations Development Programme. The Comesa Secretary General commended Seychelles for its commitment to regional integration, sustainable development, and the empowerment of women and youth, noting that the incubation centre represents an innovative approach to enterprise development and will connect local entrepreneurs to regional markets.
The COMFWB Seychelles chair, Claudette Albert, who also serves as regional chairperson of Women Entrepreneurs Indian Ocean (EFOI), played a pivotal role in bringing the vision to Seychelles. She described realising the BIAYWA project as “of national importance in achieving the sustainable development goal of alleviating poverty through empowerment of youth and women.”
The initiative includes shared production facilities for tailoring, tea and tisane packaging, artisanal manufacturing, commercial dehydration units for farmers to process fresh produce into high-value dried products, industrial kitchen juice and jam processing facilities, and fish processing equipment. Land has already been secured at the Providence Industrial Zone and other designated sites for the development of the facilities, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Diaspora said.
The launch builds on a cooperation agreement signed in August 2024 between the COMFWB Seychelles Chapter and the Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute (KIRDI), in which the partners agreed to set up Seychelles’ first fully-fledged incubation centre to support the agriculture and fisheries value chains. Two traditional dance performances by youth groups at Monday’s launch symbolised the importance of involving young people in their own empowerment.
Sources cited: 1. COMFWB Seychelles, “Member Country: Seychelles”,
