Seychelles: Barry Faure and Ronald Lamola agree to hold the Joint Commission with South Africa in 2027

On the sidelines of the 46th Ordinary Summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) held in Durban, Seychelles Minister for Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Ambassador Barry Faure, and his South African counterpart for International Relations and Cooperation, Ronald Lamola, agreed to convene the 4th session of the Seychelles-South Africa Joint Commission for Cooperation in 2027. The information was reported in a press release from the Seychelles Ministry of Foreign Affairs, distributed by APO Group. The two ministers reaffirmed the long-standing friendship between their countries and welcomed the growing interest of South African investors in the Seychelles, without specifying amounts or target sectors. Ronald Lamola described the Seychelles as a reliable partner, praising their consistent support for South African candidacies in multilateral organizations. Diplomatically, the new South African High Commissioner in Victoria will soon present their credentials; Barry Faure, for his part, announced the appointment of a Seychellois High Commissioner to South Africa, without revealing their identity. Tribute was paid to the outgoing High Commissioner, Hlamalani Nelly Manzini, for her contribution to the Maritime Corridor Strategy. This convergence strengthens the bilateral institutional framework ahead of the renewal of diplomatic representations in both capitals, and paves the way for an intensification of South African investment flows to the archipelago. This sequence illustrates the Seychellois strategy of capitalizing on its diplomatic weight, which is disproportionate to its size: in exchange for its systematic support for Pretoria's multilateral candidacies, Victoria consolidates its access to South African capital and a regional platform via SADC, while its position on the Indian Ocean maritime corridor remains a structuring asset in the relationship.