Seve Paeniu

Paeniu attended Nelson College, New Zealand (1983–1984). Paeniu graduated from Canterbury University in Christchurch, New Zealand, with a Bachelor of Commerce degree in 1987. He went on to complete a Master of Arts degree in Economics in 1995 at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

He served as Assistant Planning Officer with Tuvalu's Ministry of Finance from May 1988 to August 1989. In September 1989 he became the Ministry's Director of Planning, serving until December 1993. He was also Economic Consultant with the Asian Development Bank for the Republic of the Marshall Islands May to July 2000. Later that year, he became the director of the Ministry's economic research and policy division. In January 2002, he transferred to the Ministry of Education and Sports, serving as Permanent Secretary until August 2003, when he moved back to the Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Industries as Permanent Secretary.(August 2003 – December 2005).

On his appointment as Tuvaluan High Commissioner to Fiji, Paeniu presented his credentials to Fiji's Acting President Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi on 21 February 2006. He was terminated after a new Government in Tuvalu came into office in December.

He was the Sustainable Development Adviser of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) in Apia, Samoa (March 2007 – June 2010).[2] Secretary for Finance for Nauru (July 2010 – June 2012). Consultant with the UNDP, the UNESCAP and Peer Review Consultant with the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (September 2012 – June 2013). Economic and Finance Adviser to the Nauru Minister for Finance (July 2013 – July 2015). Head of Secretariat of the Oceania Customs Organisation (OCO), (August 2015 to September 2019).[3]

Paeniu was elected to the Parliament of Tuvalu in the 2019 Tuvaluan general election to represent the Nukulaelae electorate.[1] He was appointed as the Minister for Finance in the Natano Ministry.

As the Minister of Finance, he acts as the governor of the National Bank of Tuvalu, and he represents the government of Tuvalu on the board of directors of the Tuvalu Trust Fund. He also represents Tuvalu on the board of governors of the Asian Development Bank.[4] On 18 October 2019, he attended the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group, representing the 9 Pacific Island Countries (PICs) of the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Tuvalu.[5]

Paeniu married Malama Lipine Te'o on 7 February 1990. They have five children. His first-born child was born on 12 July 1988, Fapiano. His first daughter was born on 1 May 1991, Fianta Lisepa Paeniu. His second daughter was born on 25 February 1993, Oiluaupualofa Selienta Paeniu. In 1995 he had his second son, Suamili Alex Paeniu, in New Zealand. Subsequently, his fifth child was born in Hawaii, Faaiu Hawaii Kaleolani Paeniu.

He is a nephew of Bikenibeu Paeniu, who was a former prime minister of Tuvalu.[6]