The Development Bank of Seychelles (DBS) is a non-budgetary dependent public enterprise and operates on a commercial basis. DBS was created in 1977 as a joint venture between the Government and other shareholders namely Caisse Francaise de Cooperation, European Investment Bank, DEG, Standard Chartered Bank and Barclays Bank. During the years, some shareholders namely Barclays Bank and DEG disengaged themselves in DBS. Overtime, the shares of Standard Chartered Bank were taken over by Nouvobanq. DBS bought back Barclays’ share and Government purchased the shares of DEG, hence, increasing its shareholding to 60.50%. From eight staff members in 1978, DBS now employ 60 dedicated staff members who are committed to making the vision of the Bank a reality. The Bank is presently managed entirely by a Seychellois team.
DBS initially served the agricultural and fisheries sectors, but the business portfolio has grown to also finance new, modernization and expansion projects in many other fields including industry, services and tourism, construction of commercial buildings and renewable energy. The Bank continues to see increases in demand for new project developments as well as a substantial increase in the volume of transactions it handles. DBS had financed 8816 projects (as at end December 2020) for an amount more than SCR 3 billion. DBS has therefore evolved to become one of the leading financial institutions in project financing in almost all sectors of the economy and has shown the ability to adapt to market changes and demands, diversifying its services to meet the needs of its customers.
The Bank is continuing to invest in its information technology infrastructure to ensure that an effective networking and information management system is in place to support loan processing and the daily activities of its operations. Hence, the Bank will be investing in a modern website and core banking system to replace the existing one, which will contribute towards a more user-friendly and interactive experience.
DBS also takes its corporate social responsibility towards society very seriously and continues to support activities and events that are socially acceptable ethically driven and beneficial to the community.
The Bank also strives to maintain strong working relations with all its local stakeholders as well as its overseas shareholders and creditors. Such relation is vital to the Bank’s corporate image both locally and internationally.
After 45 years in operation, it is evident that DBS has fulfilled to a large extent its objectives towards contributing to the socio-economic development of the country. DBS could not have made such progress without the support of the Government and other shareholders, the dedication and commitment of its staff members, the guidance of its Board of Directors and the patronage of its esteemed customers and other stakeholders.
