Contract renewed for Middle East and Africa adviser
A consultant based in the Middle East who has cost taxpayers almost half a million dollars since 2023 has had her contract renewed by the Government.
Canadian-Swiss entrepreneur and lawyer Alexia Hefti remains Bermuda’s special representative for the Middle East and Africa under a professional services agreement with the Cabinet Office, according to a government spokeswoman.
The spokeswoman did not answer questions about the value and length of the contract and how many hours a month Ms Hefti, who holds at least two other jobs, was required to work for Bermuda.
But she insisted the agreement was delivering benefits to Bermudians and the public service, such as the development of “international partnership opportunities” and free digital and leadership training for locals.
Ms Hefti, whose full name is Kendra Alexia Louise Hefti-Rossier, was first hired in April 2023 on a yearlong $20,000-a-month contract to act as an adviser on Middle East affairs, with the aim of advancing economic opportunities for Bermuda in that region.
She later became the island’s special representative for the Middle East and Africa after the British Government granted permission for Bermuda to develop links with countries there.
Ms Hefti has been at the side of David Burt, the Premier and Minister of Finance, and other ministers during their visits to the Middle East since 2023, most recently in January this year in Dubai and Bahrain.
A record released by the Cabinet Office last year, in response to a public access to information request about consultants, showed the value of her contract had dropped to $14,346 a month since April 2024, with an end date of March 31, 2025.
There has been no notice in the Official Gazette of a renewal of the agreement for the 2026-27 financial year.
Ms Hefti’s contract, first disclosed in Parliament by the Premier in May 2023, has come in for criticism from the Opposition.
It questioned how she juggled her work for Bermuda with her other roles as special adviser on the Middle East to the Prime Minister of Barbados and chief executive of eGovern, a company she founded that builds technology and AI platforms for “global south” governments.
The government spokeswoman said: “No conflict of interest has been identified in relation to Ms Hefti’s engagement with the Government.”
Douglas De Couto, the shadow finance minister, recently asked Mr Burt a parliamentary question about how much Ms Hefti had received from the public purse.
The March 4 written response revealed payments totalling $498,235 between 2023 and 2025. They were for $180,000 in 2023, $189,117.60 in 2024 and $129,117.60 last year.
Dr De Couto claimed: “There is no conceivable way she’s delivering a meaningful proportion of her time on this role if she’s really also doing all the other things that she purports to be doing.
“Add them up and divide by the hours in the day.”
The One Bermuda Alliance MP claimed Ms Hefti was “paid a ridiculous amount of money” for her services by the Government and questioned what benefits she brought.
“What is the Bermudian public getting for this money being spent?” he asked. “There's no sensible explanation.”
A post by UAE-based eGovern on LinkedIn about Ms Hefti and colleagues flagged up their long hours.
“Each day is a hackathon at eGovern. We solve #government problems. We build #tech. We work hard. We stay focused … ,” it read.
“We often work 12-18 hour days. Sometimes we even pull all-nighters …”
Mr Burt said in 2023 that Bermuda “must advance in a strategic and targeted way” in the Middle East by “building relationships with a region that values the very business environment that has made us a successful and trusted jurisdiction for investment and trade globally”.
But Dr De Couto was critical of those efforts, including of travel to the region by the Premier, Jason Hayward, the Minister of Economy and Labour, and Alexa Lightbourne, the Minister of Home Affairs.
“Seems like a waste of time unless the Government can show us the tangible results,” he said.
The Royal Gazette understood that Ms Hefti helped the Government to write its recent Green Paper on the island’s Caricom full membership bid.
A government spokeswoman confirmed yesterday: “As part of Ms Hefti's existing Cabinet Office agreement, her work supported the contents of the published Green Paper.”
Alexia Hefti’s company, eGovern, describes itself as “delivering technology and strategy solutions that empower global south leaders to build future-ready nations, on their terms”.
Its website highlights how Bermuda and countries in the Caribbean have connected with Middle Eastern and African states.
A government spokeswoman confirmed yesterday that as part of her Cabinet Office agreement, Ms Hefti’s work supported the contents of the Government’s recent Green Paper on its plan for full membership of Caricom.
That document refers to the potential for Bermuda to access “new capital pools for investment” such as from the $5 billion African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) facility for Caricom members.
Ms Hefti recently posted on LinkedIn about Bermuda’s participation in Afreximbank’s annual meetings and about discussions on how the island could partner with small African states to “build together in areas like fintech regulation”.
The website of eGovern links to posts on LinkedIn about Bermuda signing a memorandum of understanding with Ghana and a partnership agreement with the United Arab Emirates, as well as an article titled “Why Caricom Needs More Shared Embassies”.
The post on the UAE partnership praised Bermuda as the first British Overseas Territory to “engage in comprehensive economic co-operation activities in the Middle East, underpinned by a Letter of Entrustment granted by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in 2023 following the appointment of Alexia Hefti”.
Another eGovern article on LinkedIn is titled “Why Are Africa and the Caribbean Still Divided by Visas?”
The piece says visas limit cultural exchange, block knowledge transfer and make trade and investment harder than they need to be.
“Let us stop dividing ourselves,” it urges. “Let us open the doors to a visa-free future.”
The special adviser’s links to the Caribbean go beyond her advisory role to Mia Mottley.
She was chairwoman until November 2023 of the Abed Group, a technology-focused family office run by Gabriel Abed, who is now the Barbados Ambassador to the UAE.
Mr Abed, who also founded Barbadian-based fintech firm Bitt, was named as an unpaid digital currency consultant to the Bermuda Government in 2018.
Mr Abed was referred to as Ms Hefti’s husband in a February 2022 YouTube video.
However, the government spokeswoman said: “Ms Hefti has advised that she is not married and is not involved in the engagement, administration or oversight of contracts between the Government and third parties.”
She said the Government’s assessment of advisers or contractors was based on the “services provided, the terms of their engagement and the outcomes delivered” and not on “speculation concerning an individual’s private life”.
Regarding the need for a special adviser for the Middle East and Africa, the spokeswoman said: “The Government’s focus is not solely on one country or region; instead it is on creating opportunities for Bermudians and advancing Bermuda’s interests wherever those opportunities exist.
“Many of Bermuda’s closest partners, including the UK, continue to expand their economic and strategic engagement throughout the Gulf region because of its growing importance in global finance, technology, trade, logistics and investment.
“Bermuda cannot afford to overlook opportunities in one of the world’s fastest-growing regions.”
She added that Ms Hefti’s contract was renewed because the Government “believes it continues to deliver value through skills development, international partnerships, technical co-operation and strategic initiatives that support Bermuda’s long-term economic and social objectives”.
Ms Hefti could not be reached for comment.
Cabinet ministers have made at least nine trips to the Middle East and one to Africa since 2023, the year Alexia Hefti was first given a contract as an adviser.
The Government’s online travel calendar lists spending of almost $100,00 on visits to both regions.
The cost of a trip by David Burt, the Premier and Minister of Finance, in January to Dubai and Bahrain has yet to be disclosed. A government spokeswoman did not answer a question on the cost.
The travel calendar does not provide the travel costs for civil servants or others who accompany ministers on overseas trips.
2023
David Burt attended the Satoshi Roundtable Conference for blockchain leaders in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates in February 2023, at a cost of $7,056.
The same month, he went to the Investopia Conference in Abu Dhabi, at a cost of $10,993.
The Premier led a Bermuda delegation to the Abu Dhabi Finance Week and Conference of the Parties (COP28) on climate change in Dubai in November 2023, at a cost of $20,794. Walter Roban, then deputy premier, also went to COP28, at a cost of $18,275.
2024
David Burt visited Dubai in February 2024 to again attend the Satoshi Roundtable Conference, at a cost of $7,796.
The same month, Jason Hayward, the Minister of Economy and Labour, went to Abu Dhabi for the Investopia Conference and to Dubai for the Global Black Impact Summit, at a cost of $14,135.
A 2024 visit to Dubai by health minister Kim Wilson cost taxpayers nothing as it was funded by the World Governments Summit.
2025
Tinée Furbert, the Minister of Youth, Social Development and Seniors, travelled to Dubai in March 2025 for the International Woman Leadership Conference, at a cost of $8,217.
Home affairs minister Alexa Lightbourne represented Bermuda at the Africa-Caricom Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in September 2025, at a cost of $10,094.
2026
David Burt went to the World Governments Summit in Dubai in January and visited Bahrain to meet government officials.
Alexa Lightbourne took part in the Global Energy Efficiency Alliance Roundtable in Dubai in February, at a cost of $1,030.
The travel calendar listings total $98,390.
• To read the parliamentary response and the government spokeswoman’s full response to the Gazette’s questions, see Related Media
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