ST JOHN’S, ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA — 6 NOVEMBER 2026
When two small countries are thousands of miles apart over the ocean, one cannot help but wonder what happens when they realise that their challenges could be turned into positive cooperation. Seychelles and Antigua & Barbuda are trying to figure out their relationship through a project that has the potential to unleash new cooperation opportunities in various spheres ranging from tourism to fisheries to the blue economy, which is booming now.
Within the framework of the 2026 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), Seychelles had a very important meeting with the Prime Minister of Antigua & Barbuda, Gaston Browne, in St. John’s on November 2, 2026, which is the first step in the transformation of the goodwill into real cooperation to create economic ties and partnerships.
The Seychelles delegation was led by the Principal Secretary and Minister of Fisheries, Agriculture and Blue Economy Wallace Cosgrow, who was representing the Head of Seychelles Patrick Herminie at the conference. During the meeting, Wallace congratulated the prime minister and the people of Antigua & Barbuda on the 45th Independence Day, celebrated on November 1, 2026.
Nevertheless, the conversations went beyond exchanging anniversary wishes and niceties in diplomacy.
Cosgrow highlighted the similarities in historical experiences and development challenges faced by both nations, as they are both Small Island Developing States (SIDS). Despite the countries being far apart geographically, they understand that building stronger cooperation in the international arena is of utmost importance in protecting their maritime heritage and ensuring a sustainable degree of economic development.
PM Browne said that investments and tourism are key factors of success for the nation. He pushed for enhanced cooperation between small island states to increase their leverage in negotiations and implementation of resolutions.
The agreement outlining the aspirations to sign the General Cooperation Agreement is one of the important results of the meeting.
The possibility of technical cooperation in the realms of blue economy, fisheries and tourism was noted as good payment areas for cooperation. This type of cooperation was expected to enable knowledge exchange, enhance expertise in the sectors involved and increase economic relationship ties between the two island nations.
This diplomatic development is really significant because Seychelles and Antigua and Barbuda have just established diplomatic relations with each other on the 23rd of September of the year 2024, thus making this initiative an important step aimed at establishing more advanced bilateral relations.
Moreover, the talks corresponded to the broader plans of CHOGM 2026, which took place from the 1st to the 4th of November, 2026, and were called Accelerating Partnerships and Investment for Prosperous Commonwealth. This summit gathered representatives from all 56 member countries of the Commonwealth.
For Seychelles and Antigua and Barbuda, the partnership that has recently started developing can show to the rest of the world how smaller countries can gain humanitarian advantages not through their geographical situation or economic power, but by uniting their efforts towards achieving common goals.
