What can Mauritius do for you?
MAURITIANS HAVE GAINED
UNPARALLELED KNOWLEDGE OF
AFRICAN BUSINESS COMMUNITIES
IN ALL THEIR COMPLEXITY.
appropriés pour ce continent. Fidèle à son
histoire, Maurice est au XXIe siècle plus
que jamais un tremplin entre la région
océan Indien et le reste du monde.
À vous de vous en servir !
A hard-nosed businessman asked me this
question just the other day. And another one:
‘why promote Mauritius to foreign investors
with photos of the beach and the sea? That’s
not what Mauritius has to offer at all!’
Of course not! It isn’t the beach, though it
does stand for the context and the quality of
life, but the high rise office blocks of Ébène
and Port Louis that show why this small
island nation in the Indian Ocean rides high
in the business rankings: 20th in the World
Bank’s Doing Business 2014 listing; 45th in the
Global Competitiveness Index. And number
one in Africa!
What’s the secret? Well, such success didn’t
come on a plate. A number of right decisions
were taken at the right time. Nicolas Maigrot,
CEO of the Mauritian conglomerate IBL, says:
‘A strong and diversified economy, a bilingual
population, a large modern road network,
LUXURY MAURITIUS
a well-developed aviation infrastructure, an
advanced telecommunications network, an
active free port, a strong forward-looking legal
framework, as well as international calibre
financial services – all are important.’
Today Mauritius is one of the foremost
providers of foreign capital in India. It has
grown its expertise through a network of
double taxation agreements. They underpin
the credibility and sustainability of its financial
services. By paying the same attention to
encouraging and supporting international
investment flows, Maurice is developing a
more regional future. Today the country is
turning to Africa. Growth there is strong. This
is also where new business opportunities are
emerging, that the Asian Tigers have been
particularly quick to conquer. So much so
that the United States, seeing itself overtaken
by its competitors, is now trying to make a
comeback. Hoping to make up for that “lost
decade”, didn’t they just organise the very high
profile summit of the African and Asian Heads
of State in August 2014?
Fully aware that geographical proximity
presents an opportunity, the Mauritian
20
government has played an active role in
promoting regional trade agreements within
the SADC (Southern African Development
Community) and COMESA (Common
Market for Eastern and Southern Africa).
More recently, Mauritius has been working
to promote regional investments as well
as trade: 34 agreements for the protection
and promotion of investment have been
signed with its African neighbours, 18 of
which are already in force. The result is that
using Mauritius as a platform for African
investments is becoming synonymous with
better guarantees against political risks.
With well-established financial structures,
investment in Africa via Mauritius can also
build on its social, cultural and managerial
expertise. Here Mauritians have a head start.
The major Mauritian groups have investments
in trade, agriculture and energy. Mauritian
consultants have been on frequent missions in
Africa since the 1980s. Mauritians can work
with both Anglophone and Francophone
Africa. Mauritians have gained unparalleled
knowledge of African business communities
in all their complexity. Therefore, some
companies are now offering their customers
not only financial and legal solutions to
support their investment but also guidance in
the selection of appropriate business models
for the continent. True to its history, Mauritius
in the 21st century is more than ever a platform
between the Indian Ocean region and the
rest of the world. Now it’s up to you to take
advantage of it!