Why Invest in Mauritius?

Over the years, Mauritius has crafted a strong growth-oriented developmental path which has enabled us to achieve one of the highest per capita income in Africa. Indeed, from USD 400 in 1968 when we obtained our independence, our development strategy has propelled us in the league of high-income countries with a GNI per capita of USD 11,416 in 2023. This strategy, built on a combination of political stability, strong institutional framework, and favorable regulatory environment have established the foundation for economic development, while open trade policies have been key in sustaining growth, gradually transforming Mauritius from a monocrop economy dependent on sugar cane as main source of foreign earnings in the 1960s into a competitive, well-diversified and broad-based economy and is now open for investment in over 15 sectors of activity.

Mauritius is a beacon of political, social and economic stability. With its wide network of Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements and Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements (IPPAs), Mauritius offers investors a conducive environment for doing business which guarantees predictability, certainty and security. Mauritius is currently home to the following arbitral institution: the Permanent Representative Office of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA).

Mauritius is amongst the top 20 countries in the world for ease of doing business and has over the years consolidated its leadership position in Sub Saharan Africa. This acknowledgement by the World Bank confirms that Mauritius remains a competitive and attractive jurisdiction for the international investors’ community. To further streamline processes and facilitate ease of doing business in Mauritius, the Economic Development Board, in collaboration with the European Union have officially launched the National Electronic Licensing System (NELS) on Thursday 28th March 2019.

The main objective of implementing a National Electronic Licensing System is to offer a single point of entry for application, payment and determination of business-related licences and permits.
As part of the reforms underway, a Business Process Reengineering exercise is being carried out to streamline processes for the determination of 140 business-related licenses and permits across 14 ministries. The setting up of NELS reaffirms the commitment of the Government to enhance our technological capabilities in addressing regulatory challenges.

Mauritius has a sophisticated, transparent and well-regulated international financial centre with a conducive ecosystem offering a complete range of financial products such as treasury management centres, global funds, protected cell companies, captives, family offices and trusts. To incentivize new activities, the Government has introduced tax holidays for setting up regional headquarters, investment banking, and fund management, amongst others.

Mauritius is currently connected to two undersea cables namely: South Africa Far East (SAFE) and Lower Indian Ocean Network (LION)/LION2 cables for the provision of international Internet capacity. To position Mauritius on the digital superhighway, the island will be soon connected  to two additional international Fiber Optic Cables namely, the Indian Ocean Xchange Cable (IOX), linking Mauritius, Reunion Island and Rodrigues to South Africa and India and the MElting poT Indianoceanic Submarine System (METISS) connecting Mauritius, Reunion island, Madagascar and South Africa.

In addition, the Central Electricity Board through Fibrenet has implemented a second national fiber optic cable backbone in Mauritius. This network which complements the existing fibre infrastructure from telecom operators in Mauritius, aims at boosting Government’s effort to provide affordable and accessible broadband services to all.

Mauritius is served by more than 20 Airlines and connecting over 150 destinations world-wide.  The country is well-placed to grow its footprint in Africa with code share agreements with South African Airways and Kenya Airways acting as two new gateways into the African continent.  Furthermore, Mauritius aims to position itself as a strategic hub, efficiently connecting Southern African markets to points in the Asia-Pacific. The projections point to approximately 8 million passengers being expected through the airport in 2040. – In terms of connectivity, Mauritius has direct service to 9 of top 15 airport Hubs in the world. This includes Paris, London, Singapore, Dubai, Johannesburg, Nairobi, New Delhi, Mumbai, Perth.

Mauritius is developing an island container terminal to cater for container traffic beyond 2025. The Government is investing Rs 47 billion (USD 1.3 billion) for the development of the blue economy and the transformation of the Port Louis Harbour into a regional maritime hub. These projects include the construction of an island terminal, a wave breaker, a fishing port and storage facility for Oil and Gas amongst many others. The Mauritius Container Terminal (MCT) is set to become one of the largest container ports in the region; already, several projects are being implemented and with the wharf extension being completed over a length of 800 meters. This project, to the tune of MUR 6.5 billion, attests to the government’s vision to make Port-Louis the privileged maritime platform of the Indian Ocean.