AI governance, seen from the Global South

Brief No. 014 · National policy

Seychelles Approves Five-Year AI Strategy and Sovereign Cloud Project

Summary

The Cabinet of Seychelles has approved the National Digital & AI Strategy 2026–2031 alongside plans for an in-country sovereign cloud supported by two datacentres.

Grand building with dome reflected in water
Photo: Zoshua Colah on Unsplash

The Cabinet of Seychelles has approved the Seychelles Digital & AI Strategy 2026–2031, establishing a national roadmap to guide public-sector adoption, economic diversification and technological modernisation through 2031, according to an official announcement from State House Seychelles. The policy was sanctioned during a scheduled executive meeting chaired by Vice-President Sebastien Pillay on 28 October.

Under the newly endorsed framework, the government plans to expand digital public services, improve nationwide connectivity, build local technical skills and reinforce national cybersecurity mechanisms, according to the executive statement. To administer the programme, ministers approved the creation of an Inter-Ministerial Digital and AI Coordination Committee, to be led by the minister responsible for information and communications technology. Each government ministry will appoint designated institutional focal points to align sectoral initiatives with national digital goals.

Alongside the policy framework, the Cabinet approved the implementation of the Government Cloud and Datacenter Project, according to State House Seychelles. The initiative is designed to create a sovereign domestic cloud environment hosted across two geographically separated datacentres. Officials noted that the twin facilities will improve operational continuity and data security for public administration while reducing domestic reliance on overseas and commercial digital infrastructure. Execution is planned across two distinct stages, starting with the establishment of the primary datacentre and initial cloud architecture, followed by the deployment of the secondary facility to broaden national artificial intelligence computing capacity.

What it means

For small island developing states, pairing national artificial intelligence policy with domestic sovereign cloud infrastructure offers a practical route to avoid external technological dependency and protect sensitive public data.

How this story was made

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References

  1. statehouse.gov.schttps://statehouse.gov.sc/news/7318/cabinet-business-wednesday-28-october-2026