Press release

Clarification on New Ambassador Postings

April 3, 2012
StateHouse

Following the announcements made by the President’s Office on the posting of Ambassadors, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs wishes to clarify the following details:

  1. Ms. Marie Louise Potter –Ambassador based in New York

Amb. Potter will be nominated as the Seychelles Permanent Representative to the United Nations and as Ambassador to the United States, and other neighbouring countries to be announced at a later date.

  1. Mr. Bernard Shamlaye- Ambassador based in Paris

Amb. Shamlaye will be nominated as the Resident Ambassador to France, and to the ‘Organisation International de la Francophonie’, as well as United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

  1. Mr. Claude Morel- High Commissioner based in Pretoria

Amb. Morel will be nominated as the Seychelles Resident Ambassador to South Africa and neighbouring states.

  1. Mr. Joseph Nourrice- Ambassador based in Addis Ababa

Amb. Nourrice will be nominated as the Seychelles Permanent Representative to the African Union and as Ambassador to Ethiopia, and other neighbouring states.

Following the acceptance by the host countries of the proposed nominations, formal accreditation of the new Ambassadors will follow.

Mr. Ronny Jumeau, the Ambassador for Climate Change Issues and Small island Developing States, will continue to operate from the Seychelles office in New York which is based in the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) building.

Ms. Erna Athanasius, the Ambassador for Children and Women’ Affairs, will be operating from Seychelles. As stated previously, Ambassador Marie-Pierre Lloyd who previously held this post will be assigned other duties shortly, however it should be noted that Amb. Lloyd still remains a candidate for the position of Commissioner for Social Affairs at the African Union Commission, the outcome of which will only be know at the next AU Summit to be held in Malawi in July this year.

It should be also noted that, in 2010 the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Jean-Paul Adam, pledged to open one new Embassy a year for a three year period (subject to available funding) as part of Seychelles’ active diplomacy strategy.

The commitment to strengthening Seychelles diplomatic representation abroad was reiterated by Minister Adam at the Honorary consuls meeting held in Seychelles in October last year, where he confirmed the intention of opening Addis Ababa as the next priority mission for Seychelles.

The Embassy in Addis Ababa is expected to open before the end of this calendar year.