Why Seychelles is the richest country in Africa

This is why Seychelles is the richest country in Africa

It will interest you to know that Seychelles is the least corrupt country in Africa, this has also aided in making the country the richest and most developed in Africa. Question is, what makes the smallest Country in Africa the richest and most developed in the region? Well, that’s what we’re about to find out in this video.


Seychelles is an island country in the Indian Ocean. It is made up of around 115 small islands. With a population of only 92,000, it has the tiniest population of any country in Africa. It ranks as the richest country of Africa, with a reported per capita GDP of $16,332 in 2021. Seychelles is characterized as a highly developed country. However, income inequality is also rampant. The country's economy is largely based on tourism. Fishing and the processing of natural resources such as coconut also play an important role. Before tourists began to visit the country, plantations used to drive the economy of Seychelles. In recent decades, the government has tried to come up with initiatives to reduce the dependence on tourism. Although it has been suspected that Seychelles may harbor offshore oil reserves, to this date none have been found.

Seychelles was uninhabited prior to being encountered by Europeans in the 16th century. It faced competing French and British interests until coming under full British control in the late 18th century. Since proclaiming independence from the United Kingdom in 1976, it has developed from a largely agricultural society to a market-based diversified economy, characterized by rapidly rising service, public sector, and tourism activities.

Growth has been led by the tourist sector, which employs about 30% of the labour force, compared to agriculture which today employs about 3% of the labour force. As of 2013, the main export products are processed fish (60%) and non-fillet frozen fish (22%). The prime agricultural products currently produced in Seychelles include sweet potatoes, vanilla, coconuts and cinnamon. These products provide much of the economic support of the locals. Frozen and canned fish, copra, cinnamon and vanilla are the main export commodities.

From 1976, year of Seychelles’ independence to 2019, nominal GDP grew nearly 700%, and purchasing power parity nearly 1600%. Since the late 2010s, the government has taken steps to encourage foreign investment.
Today, Seychelles boasts the highest nominal per capita GDP of any African nation. It has the second-highest Human Development Index of any African country after Mauritius. It is one of only two African countries classified as a high-income economy by the World Bank with the other being Mauritius.

Since the worldwide economic crises of 2008, the Seychelles government prioritised a curbing of the budget deficit, including the containment of social welfare costs and further privatization of public enterprises. The government has a pervasive presence in economic activity, with public enterprises active in petroleum product distribution, banking, imports of basic products, telecommunications and a wide range of other businesses. According to the 2013 Index of Economic Freedom, which measures the degree of limited government, market openness, regulatory efficiency, rule of law, and other factors, economic freedom has been increasing each year since 2010.

The national currency of Seychelles is the Seychellois rupee. Initially tied to a basket of international currencies, it was unpegged and allowed to be devalued and float freely in 2008 on the presumed hopes of attracting further foreign investment in the Seychelles economy.

Seychellois culture and society is an eclectic mix of French, British, and African influences, with more recent infusions of Chinese and Indian elements. The country is a member of the United Nations, the African Union, the Southern African Development Community, and the Commonwealth of Nations.
Seychelles has emerged as the least corrupt country in Africa in the latest Corruption Perception Index report released by Transparency International in January 2020. This has played a major role in making Seychelles Island the country that it is today.