in 2022, which is quite a lot for an island archipelago of less than 100,000 people. some of your officials have talked about getting to half a million visitors. no, we will not. we will never get to half a million because it will destroy. and this is why the strategy of our tourism industry is the high class tourism, as you mentioned. we do not want backpackers in seychelles, we want the high class tourism. and this is what actually saved our economy, because during the time of covid, those people could still come to seychelles in their private jets, and, therefore, put money in the economy. so this is the strategy and the moratorium will stay. and.some of the hotels that are being renovated right now are five star institutions.
how do those rich and privileged people that you want as your high net worth tourists react when they realise, if they realise, that seychelles has the highest heroin addiction rate per capita in the whole world? it is a problem. it is a problem for us as a country. it doesn t make you sound quite so attractive, does it? yes and no. but i ll tell you. well, i m struggling to see the yes in that. i mean, it s not a good thing to be a country where10% of the local population is dependent on heroin. yes, sir. let me say, we have a big problem and my administration inherited this problem. but what are we doing? 0nly last week, we arrested an iranian dhow with one tonne of drugs 600 kilos of heroin and 400 kilos of meth.
to be damaged by climate change and sea level rise? you ve claimed, i think, that 60 of the 115 islands in your archipelago could be lost. i don t know that most people think that s true, do they? well, it s because people don t really follow what s happening. you ve got to understand what the seychelles is all about. we ve got about 39 granitic islands. of course, mahe, being the main granitic island, goes up to 3,000 feet up, but the other islands are just a mere four metres, three metres above sea level. and already what we are seeing is, with the rise in the sea level and with greater surges, a lot of these islands are already changing shapes because the dune around the island is already being affected. therefore, these islands, similar to the maldives,
i m going to get rid of corruption, i m going to change our political culture, you said. do you think you ve actually succeeded? cos there are many signs that you haven t. no, no, we cannot talk about having succeeded. it s a process. it s a process that will take some time. i know expectations are high, even from my own supporters, but it s only 2.5 years. and we re trying. i mean, these are the 12 labours of hercules that i m involved in. well, yeah, but are you doing it fairly? for example, the key trial that many in your country are watching is of two individuals, a former economic adviser to long serving president france albert rene and the late former president s widow. now, those two are facing trial, it s going to begin very soon. and they are charged with misappropriating a very large amount of money donated to seychelles and money laundering. yes. now, they absolutely, categorically deny the charges
in fact, as an african country, when the world talks about africa, they don t really pay attention to the sids. and yet, the sids of africa are the ones that are doing very well. when you look at the mo ibrahim index, for example, mauritius is first, seychelles is second, cape verde s third. so you have three sids that are doing extremely well, but the focus is on mainland africa. but isn t that, in a sense, part of the point? you are doing relatively well. i believe your per capita income is over $10,000, which in african terms is pretty remarkable, and you re very small. your population is hovering around 100,000. so in the end, how can you expect to have a meaningful voice on the world stage? well, even though we re doing well, the thing is,