Why Young Seychellois Must Be Included in Economic Planning Right Now. Opinion by Salim Mathieu

There is a quiet crisis unfolding beneath the surface of Seychelles’ postcard beauty. It is not visible in the blue of our waters or the green of our islands, nor is it reflected in tourism numbers or GDP graphs. It lies instead in the subtle but widening distance between the generation shaping today’s national decisions and the generation that will inherit their consequences.

For years, economic planning in Seychelles has been treated as the domain of a particular class of policymakers, older familiar faces who have spent decades steering the nation through its evolution from a sleepy archipelago to a service-based economy. Their contributions are undeniable. Their perspectives, forged through experience, remain valuable. And yet, there comes a moment in every nation’s history when tradition begins to suffocate innovation, when the patterns of the past no longer serve the needs of the future. Seychelles has reached precisely that moment.

The world around us has already changed. Technology is reconfiguring global industries. Climate pressures are reshaping national priorities. New markets are emerging. Old certainties are vanishing. Against this backdrop, the absence of young Seychellois from economic decision-making is not merely an oversight. It is a strategic vulnerability.

There is a tendency in small countries, especially ones with tight-knit political cultures, for authority to calcify. Roles become inherited rather than earned. Opinions become predictable rather than imaginative. The result is a planning culture that looks inward, not outward. Backward, not forward. But young Seychellois have been raised in a vastly different world. They have grown up navigating digital ecosystems, speaking multiple languages, and engaging with global ideas at a pace unmatched by any generation before them. Many have studied or worked abroad, observing firsthand how modern economies compete. Others have returned to Seychelles with ideas that challenge the quiet comfort of old assumptions. And yet, their voices remain faint in the rooms where the future is supposedly being shaped.

This silence speaks volumes. It reflects a deeper national hesitation, a belief that youth is synonymous with inexperience rather than insight. But if experience were the only ingredient required for national progress, the world’s most innovative societies would be led exclusively by the elderly. Instead, every modern success story has been shaped by the energy, vision, and bold impatience of its younger citizens. They are the ones who push against the boundaries of what is considered possible. They are the ones who imagine what has not yet been built. They are the ones who see opportunity where others see risk.

The truth is that young Seychellois do not want to replace anyone. They want to collaborate. They seek a country that does not simply celebrate youth during speeches but integrates them into the machinery of national strategy. They want to help shape new industries, technology, renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, creative sectors, blue economy innovation, without being told to wait their turn. They want to participate in designing economic reforms, not watch from the sidelines as policy after policy is crafted without their lived reality in mind. And they want a nation that believes in their capability before the rest of the world tries to claim it.

What is often overlooked is that youth bring something to national planning that cannot be replicated: a sense of urgency. They understand instinctively that Seychelles cannot rely on the same two or three pillars forever. They know that a country cannot thrive by merely defending what already exists. Their impatience is not arrogance. It is foresight. It comes from understanding that the pace of global change is unforgiving and that hesitation is the true danger.

I have lived between Seychelles and Europe for many years. I have seen how other nations deliberately cultivate the intelligence of their young people, not as a gesture of modernity but as a core economic strategy. In Scandinavia, young voices are systematically woven into national committees, innovation councils, and municipal planning boards. In Germany, youth-led startups are treated as engines of future competitiveness. Across Europe, age is less a barrier than a datapoint, relevant but not decisive. Seychelles cannot afford to lag behind.

The absence of youth in our national planning is not only a question of representation but also of imagination. A country that sidelines its younger generation cannot meaningfully discuss artificial intelligence, digital governance, cyber resilience, or new industrial opportunities. It cannot compete globally when its policies are written for an economy that existed ten years ago. And it cannot expect innovation when its own people feel like they must leave the country to be heard.

There is something profoundly destabilizing about watching so many young Seychellois, talented, educated, globally literate, quietly give up on the idea that they can influence their own country’s trajectory. They are not angry. They are disengaged. And disengagement is far more dangerous than dissent. A nation can negotiate with anger. It cannot negotiate with apathy.

If we truly believe that Seychelles is capable of transformation, then we must redesign the architecture of decision-making. Not by creating symbolic committees or ceremonial youth days, but by opening actual seats at the national table for people whose voices carry the rhythm of the future. This means young professionals shaping policies on innovation, digital infrastructure, new industries, governance reforms, cultural development, and international partnerships. It means giving them the mandate, and the responsibility, to help carry the nation forward.

A modern economy is not built only on what a country produces. It is built on who a country trusts. And the future of Seychelles will depend on whether we trust our young people enough to let them lead.

My Final Thoughts

As someone who has spent years watching the strengths and fragilities of our nation from both inside and abroad, I believe the most important investment Seychelles can make today is not in technology, infrastructure, or foreign partnerships. It is in its young people. They are not a demographic category to be consulted when convenient. They are the central architects of tomorrow’s Seychelles, the ones who will live with the consequences of the decisions being made today.

If we choose to empower them now, we will build a modern, competitive, forward-thinking country capable of standing confidently in a rapidly changing world. If we delay, we will inherit a future defined not by ambition but by hesitation.

The question is not whether young Seychellois are ready. They have been ready for a long time. The real question is whether the nation is willing to let them step into the light.