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Victoria, Seychelles

Seychelles

Validation status
Meaningful progress
Joined
6 August 2014
Latest validation
2020
Latest data from
2020
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Overview and role of the EITI

Seychelles does not produce oil, gas or minerals, although international companies are exploring for petroleum offshore. A commercially viable discovery could have a significant impact on the island nation, which has a population of around 90,000 and an economy dominated by tourism and fisheries.

Seychelles has been using the EITI platform to strengthen the legal and policy framework for its extractive sector, including on beneficial ownership disclosure and licensing transparency. EITI reporting can further provide insights on the management of the country’s nascent oil sector, including environmental risks associated with offshore oil exploration and production.

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Download country data

Download open data on government and company revenues, revenues by revenue stream and indicator, summary data and more.


Innovations and policy reforms

  • Seychelles EITI has helped to inform the development of Beneficial Ownership Act 2020 by ensuring that the law provides for the public disclosure of beneficial ownership data in the extractive sector. It is now participating in discussions on the development of regulations and the implementation of the law.
  • Seychelles EITI has contributed to the systematic disclosure of data on the petroleum sector through the PetroSeychelles website, including disclosures on licensing, licensing maps and procedures.

Extractive sector data

Production and exports

Crude Oil

Revenue collection

Level of detail 2

Extractive sector management

Licenses and contracts

Seychelles has adopted an “open file” licensing system. Under this scheme, companies submit proposals for open areas on a first come first serve basis. PetroSeychelles undertakes due diligence to verify that bidding companies are technically and financially competent, after which the proposals are published to allow for competing proposals within a 90-day period. Following evaluation, the selected company is invited to negotiate a Petroleum Agreement. Petroleum Agreements are not publicly disclosed at present. Petroseychelles publishes a register of licenses and license procedures online.

Beneficial ownership

Seychelles adopted a Beneficial Ownership Act in March 2020, which includes a definition of beneficial owners and requires extractive companies to disclose comprehensive beneficial ownership information. The law came into effect in January 2021. Extractive companies are the only sector where beneficial ownership disclosures are to be made publicly available.

Revenue distribution

All revenues flow through the central budget before allocation to government agencies and ministries. There is no fiscal devolution in the Seychelles.


EITI implementation

Governance

Seychelles EITI (SEITI) is administered by the Seychelles Multi-Stakeholder Group (MSG). The MSG is hosted by PetroSeychelles under the Ministry of Fisheries and Blue Economy and chaired by Mr Patrick Payet, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Finance, Trade, Investment and Economic Planning. The MSG is comprised of representatives from government, industry and civil society.

Timeline

Validation

Seychelles was found to have made meaningful progress in implementing the 2019 EITI Standard in September 2020, following its third Validation. Seychelles has fully addressed three of the eight corrective actions identified in its previous Validation. The next Validation is expected to commence in January 2023.

Scorecard

Latest Validation: 11 September 2020
Year

Assessment of EITI requirements

  • Not met
  • Partly met
  • Mostly met
  • Fully met
  • Exceeded
Scorecard by requirement View more Assessment View more

Overall Progress

MSG oversight

1.5Work plan

The work plan includes activities related to EITI implementation, However, the work plan does not address the scope of EITI implementation or reflect the transition from traditional EITI reporting to systematic disclosures. The objectives are not clearly linked to national priorities or the MSG’s vision for EITI implementation. Follow up on recommendations from Validation or previous EITI Reports is not included. The work plan does not include a plan for disclosing petroleum contracts from January 2021 onwards (see Requirement 2.4).

1.1Government engagement

The government is fully, actively and effectively engaged in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the EITI process. There have been regular public statements of support from senior government officials and, a senior government official has been appointed as EITI lead.

1.2Company engagement

At the initial stages of EITI implementation, companies appeared to be fully, actively and effectively engaged in the EITI process. Since the MSG was established in 2014, the main petroleum industry players ceased their activities in the country. This does not at the time of the assessment appear to have a negative effect on the EITI process.

1.3Civil society engagement

Civil society appear to be fully, actively and effectively engaged in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the EITI process. There appears to be some challenges with engaging civil society beyond the MSG in debates on the petroleum industry, given that there has not been any commercially viable discovery.

1.4MSG governance

Meeting minutes demonstrate that the MSG is providing oversight of the EITI process, despite practical limitations to industry engagement. The assessment of “satisfactory progress” takes into account the Board-approved request for proportionate implementation, which notes limitations to industry engagement.

Licenses and contracts

2.1Legal framework

Various government agencies disclose descriptions or full documents of laws and regulations governing the sector, which are also described in the 2015-16 EITI Report.

2.4Contracts

The government’s policy regarding the disclosure of petroleum contracts had not been clarified since the first Validation.

2.2Contract and license allocations

Information about the recipients of petroleum licenses and the statutory award process has been disclosed. The corrective action related to the quarrying sector was addressed through the proposal for proportionate implementation. However, it is not disclosed whether the award of licenses to SSR Seychelles Alpha and Beta in 2018 followed the statutory “open file” procedure and whether any other companies submitted bids.

2.3Register of licenses

PetroSeychelles has disclosed on its website current and historical license information, including dates of award. However, dates of application and the duration of licenses are not available. The corrective action related to the quarrying sector was addressed through the proposal for proportionate implementation.

2.5Beneficial ownership

The 2020 Beneficial Ownership Act provides the legal framework for establishing effective beneficial ownership transparency in the extractive sector, although further regulations are required to establish detailed guidance for reporting. Disclosures under the Beneficial Ownership Act are yet to take place.

2.6State participation

Not applicable

The state currently has no commercial participation in the upstream petroleum sector. PetroSecyhelles operates a regulator on behalf of the government and promotes activities in the oil sector. SEYPEC no longer holds any interests in upstream oil companies.

Monitoring production

3.1Exploration data

The PetroSeychelles website provides information on petroleum exploration activities. Further details on the extractive sectors including exploration activities is provided in the 2015-16 EITI Report.

3.2Production data

Not applicable

There is currently no production in the petroleum sector. The 2015-16 EITI Report provides production data on volumes and values from quarrying activities are provided by commodity and by company.

3.3Export data

Not applicable

There are no exports of oil, gas and minerals from Seychelles, which is confirmed in the 2015-16 EITI Report and stakeholder consultations

Revenue collection

4.2In-kind revenues

Not applicable

There is no production and thus no in-kind revenue collected by the government. The requirement on in-kind revenues is therefore not applicable to Seychelles.

4.5SOE transactions

The 2015-16 EITI Report comprehensively discloses the transactions between the government and SOEs.

4.1Comprehensiveness

The MSG has agreed materiality thresholds for selecting companies and revenue streams. The report lists non-reporting companies and government entities and provides an assessment of the materiality of their payments. The government has provided full unilateral disclosure of all extractives revenues

4.3Infrastructure provisions and barter arrangements

Not applicable

There is no evidence suggesting that infrastructure provisions and barter arrangements exist. The requirement on infrastructure provisions and barter arrangements is therefore not applicable to Seychelles.

4.4Transportation revenues

Not applicable

There is no indication that revenues from the transportation of commodities would constitute material payments. The requirement on transportation revenue is not applicable to Seychelles.

4.6Direct subnational payments

Not applicable

There are no provisions on direct subnational payments and no indication that extractive companies make payments to sub-national levels of government. The requirement on subnational direct payments is therefore not applicable to Seychelles.

4.7Disaggregation

The 2015-16 EITI Report discloses the revenue data disaggregated by individual company, government entity and revenue stream. The report does not systematically disclose revenues by project.

4.8Data timeliness

The EITI disclosures for 2015 were published ten days after the deadline, while the 2016 data in the report was published well in advance of the deadline (i.e. 31 December 2018).

4.9Data quality and assurance

The approach to ensuring the reliability of revenue data is endorsed by the MSG and reflects the Board-approved proposal for proportionate implementation.

Revenue allocation

5.1Distribution of revenues

The 2015-16 EITI Report provides an explanation of the flows of revenues in the extractive sector and while revenues are recorded in the national budget.

5.3Revenue management and expenditures

Not assessed

The 2015-16 EITI Report provides an overview of the national budgeting process including a description of the role of key government agencies and auditing procedures.

5.2Subnational transfers

Not applicable

Available documentation and the 2015-16 EITI Report indicate that sub-national transfers of extractive sector revenues do not exist in Seychelles. The requirement on subnational transfers is therefore not applicable to Seychelles.

Socio-economic contribution

6.3Contribution of the extractive sector to the economy

The economic contribution of the petroleum sector is immaterial.

6.4Environmental impact

Not assessed

While the 2015-2016 EITI Report summarised environmental provisions of the Model Petroleum Agreement and the 2016 Environmental Protection Act is available online, the MSG does not yet appear to have comprehensively considered the environmental impacts of the extractive industries despite stakeholder interest in the issue.

6.2SOE quasi-fiscal expenditures

6.1Social and environmental expenditures

Outcomes and impact

7.1Public debate

The MSG has made considerable efforts to disseminate information about the EITI and the information disclosed, considering that petroleum exploration is not high on the public agenda unless there are any reports of a commercially viable petroleum discovery.

7.2Data accessibility and open data

EITI revenue data is available in open format, but the MSG does not appear to have an open data policy.

7.3Follow up on recommendations

The MSG has considered the findings and recommendations from EITI reporting, and made progress on implementing these.

7.4Outcomes and impact of implementation

The Seychelles EITI published its 2016 annual progress report in 2017, describing progress against work plan objectives and recommendations from the first EITI Report. It includes an assessment of progress against only against selected EITI Requirements, and does not include any assessment of the impact and outcomes of the work plan objectives.


Key documents


Contacts