L’HEBDOMADAIRE ÉLECTRONIQUE GRATUITÉDITION 151 – VENDREDI 23 JUIN 2017

OPINION/PHILANTHROPYIn a pandemic, billionaires are richer than ever. Why aren’t they giving more?

ÉDITION 303 – VENDREDI 14 AOÛT 2020

Why is Mauritius Still A Leading Investment

Destination?

WEBINAR – BY PENRESA AND FORBES AFRICAL’HEBDOMADAIRE DIGITAL GRATUIT

MV WAKASHIO

Can our environmental laws protect our marine ecosystem from oil spills?

Mauritius has recently set the record in Africa for be-

ing ranked as a high-income economy by the World Bank.

Penresa and media partner Forbes Africa hosted a webi-

nar on Wednesday 12th of August to unravel the strate-

gies implemented which have positioned Mauritius as one

of the fastest-growing wealth markets. Matthew Scott Rose,

the moderator, welcomed Dr Rama Sithanen, Chair-

man and Director of SANNE Mauritius, Sanjiv Bhasin,

Chief Executive Officer of AfrAsia Bank and Akshar

Maherally, Managing Direc-tor of WTS Mauritius

“Mauritius is now beyond day-to-day challeng-es and is going through gigantic challenges, whose economic consequences are yet to be seen in the fu-ture”. These were the concluding words of Akshar Maherally, Managing Director of WTS Mauritius, at the webinar organized by Penresa together with Forbes Africa as media partner.

Nevertheless, Matthew Scott Rose’s (the moderator) guest speakers gave some pos-itive insights into what makes Mauritius a “leading investment destination”. Especially since the country has recently been ranked as a high-income economy by the World Bank.

Question: Over the years, Mauritius has become a thriving investment hub. Can you give an insight into the stra- tegies which have been implemented to appeal to investors?

Dr Rama Sithanen (Chairman and Director of SANNE Mauritius): Firstly,

we have a combination of the right eco-system, adapting and adjusting to chang-ing circumstances. We have built exper-tise and acquired experience. Secondly, there is the software, that is, the political and social stability of the country which offers certainty, predictability and stabili-ty to the global business sector. We work very hard to improve the Ease of Doing Business and reduce the costs to become more competitive. We have also signed many agreements, which make us com-petitive in terms of taxation and help to protect companies investing in Mauritius from risks of nationalization. We have abolished foreign exchange controls to allow easy exchange of capital. There is no restriction as in other countries, but we do things within the parameters of the law. Mauritius is an excellent plat-form for cross-border investments and we have good functioning institutions although there are challenges from time to time.

Q: You have mentioned taxation, how Mauritius strives to be competitive and adopt tax policies in line with in-ternational regulations. How is Mauri-tius adopting these best practices, and how are investors being protected?

Sanjiv Bhasin (Chief Executive Officer, AfrAsia Bank): My starting point

would be – regarding the success story as an International Financial Centre – that Mauritius has always been compliant with international standards. Mauritius must have been compliant, otherwise it would not be enjoying the status it has today. The regulatory bodies here have always tried to be relevant and in com-pliance with evolving standards. We have

signed, amongst others, the Base Ero-sion Profit Shifting (BEPS) agreement with the OECD. You cannot find Mau-ritius shine away from standards set up by the OECD.

Q: Regarding tax treaties and BEPS, Mauritius has been renegotiating its treaties with Senegal and Zambia. What is the way forward as Mauritius tries to unite with Africa?

Akshar Maherally: As concerns the tax treaties renegotiations, it is part of the life cycle of tax treaties, and not neces-sarily a bad thing. We should clarify the situation. The treaties themselves are not being questioned. They are based on the OECD model, and signed by both gov-ernments at their own free will. From an economic perspective, changes and renegotiations happen. The Senegal and Zambia are unhappy about the terms of the tax treaty, especially the sharing of the taxing rights. Mauritius should be positive about these. It is important to note that the mere fact that a govern-ment wants a treaty to be renegotiated means that it is still ready or still want our two countries to be bonded by a treaty. The Zambia cabinet made it clear that they want discussions about it and keep the treaty albeit on different terms. We need to adapt and get going.

Q: In terms of human capital, there seems to be a lack of specialists such as investment bankers, wealth and asset managers…

Dr Rama Sithanen: There are many ways of handling this issue. We have gained experience. Nevertheless, we need to create an ecosystem to attract large banks to invest, and open up the coun-try for expats who will share their ex-pertise. We have done so to some extent already. The last Budget exercise made provisions and provided incentives to attract the Mauritian diaspora. We need furthermore to train our own people and expose them to challenges of the global business sector. So, it is a combination of learning, opening up the country, training and attracting the diaspora.

Q: The finance sector represents 12% of the Gross Domestic Product. Is there a shake-up as concerns the coronavirus for the banking and finance sectors?

Sanjiv Bhasin: Everybody is impacted. No economy has been spared. Most coun-tries, from a macro level perspective, are trying to save jobs and businesses so there is no crisis. The government, in Mauritius, has reacted quickly and pos-

itively through measures like the wage support scheme. The challenge now is what next. I believe everybody’s business model will change. All existing business-es will have to rethink their models more in terms of cost containment. Adoption of digital platforms will increase. Busi-nesses are ready for it, but not necessari-ly all customers. Fundamentally, all busi-nesses will have to be flexible to market changes and implement strategies to react quickly. The Mauritian banking system is very robust and healthy. Going forward – I don’t think anybody can pre-dict – the sector will remain robust and capable of absorbing, but all depends on how businesses will be ready. It is dif-ficult to predict from 12 to 18 months from now.

Q: Does the panel has any comment on the European Union black list and the FATF grey list?

Dr Rama Sithanen: Of course, it affects our jurisdiction because of the reputa-tional risk. To be frank, we are not happy the way this has happened. There should have been more discussions and dialogue before including us on the list. As we are talking now, business continues. The fact that we are on the grey list of FATF and black list of the EU attracts unwanted attention. The government is currently in conversation with the FATF and the EU to comply with the rules laid down. Five issues had been flagged. Commit-tees have already been set up to look into these. We are technically compliant but we are being accused in regards to the effectiveness.

Q: In light of recent events, does anyone in the panel has any word, and tell

why Mauritius is still a destination for investment?

Sanjiv Bhasin: It is very difficult to find anything wrong with Mauritius. One thing, in my opinion, is that Mauritius has been able to preserve things which are most important for an economy and promotes a robust and proactive asso-ciation between government and the private sector. The Public Private Part-nership (PPP) is on display in Mauritius full time. As regards the recent event, all citizens were willing to help with the oil spill. This is Mauritius’ greatest strength.

Dr Rama Sithanen: We could have pre-vented the shipwreck and the oil spill with more preparedness, reaction and mobilization of resources. But the nation as a whole has reacted promptly to mit-igate the impact. Secondly, even though in the long term Mauritius will do well, we are facing a difficult situation with the public health emergency, its impact on the economy since Mauritius is an open economy, the blacklist and grey list and now the ecological disaster. These are challenging times for Mauritius in the next 2 – 3 years. But we have come far to reach a high Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita. Going forward, if we provide more stability and certainty, we can progress more.

Akshar Maherally: Mauritius is now be-yond day-to-day challenges and is going through gigantic challenges whose eco-nomic consequences are yet to be seen in the future. The great solidarity shown by the population in regards to the oil spill brings lots of hope for the country. We now need to target a decent growth rate in the years to come, to attract for-eign investors and ensure our sustaina-bility.

Why is Mauritius Still A Leading Investment

Destination?

VENDREDI 14 AOÛT 2020 | BIZWEEK | ÉDITION 303

LA TOUR3

Mauritius has recently set the record in Africa for being ranked as a high-income economy by the World Bank. Penresa and media partner Forbes Africa hosted a webinar on Wednesday 12th of August to unravel the strategies implemented which have positioned Mauritius as one of the fast-est-growing wealth markets. Matthew Scott Rose, the moderator, welcomed Dr Rama Sithanen, Chairman and Director of SANNE Mauritius,

Sanjiv Bhasin, Chief Executive Officer of AfrAsia Bank and Akshar Maherally, Managing Director of WTS Mauritius

WEBINAR – BY PENRESA AND FORBES AFRICA

Can our environmental laws protect our marine ecosystem from oil spills?

The Mauritian population was reas-sured on a number of occasions by the Government that there was no occurrence of any oil spill and that all precautions were being taken to

prevent any oil spillage. A number of measures were taken by the relevant institutions including:• dailyseawatersamplesbeingcarriedout;• the deployment of an approximate 332 me-

tre boom at the entrance of Blue Bay Marine Park;

• thesignatureof asalvageagreementforreme-dialactionstobetaken;and

• acleanupof theshore linecarriedouton27July2020.

Despite the measures, traces of an oil spill have been reported to have reached the coasts of Ma-hebourg and Riviere des Creoles on 6 August 2020. Furthermore, even though the salvageteamandtugforthesalvageexercisehavebeeninMauritiussince30July2020,nosalvageoper-ations have been carried out to date.In times of an unprecedented catastrophe such as the present one, our public institutions will be strenuously tested, and with it, the strength and efficacy of our legal framework.Althoughwe cannot as of now assess the impact of the measures which have and will be implemented in an attempt to protect our marine ecosystem, we mayweighwhetherourexistinglawsareefficient

in dealing with oil spills and their impact on the environment.An entire part of the Environment Protection Act 2002 (the “Act”) is dedicated to spills andenvironmental emergencies. The way an oil spill is tackled in the Act is, at the forefront, through the imposition of a number of obligations on the owner of the pollutant being spilled. The owner of apollutant is identifiedundertheActas theowner or the person having the charge, manage-ment or control of a pollutant which is spilled or unlawfullydischarged.Inviewof thebroaddefi-nition given by the legislator, there may be mul-tiple owners of a pollutant for the purpose of the Act, hence, multiple parties may be subject to the same obligations and liabilities.The obligations of the owner of a pollutant are multi-faceted. Firstly, he must notify the Di-rector of the Environment (“the Director”) of the spill, the circumstances thereof, and of any action plan taken or proposed in relation to the spill. He must then do everything practicable to prevent, eliminate or reduce the adverse effects of the spill, and he must do everything practi-cable to restore the environment to the state it was in prior to the spill. When considering the afore-mentioned obligations, one can only ask whether, in matters of spills and ecological ca-tastrophes, it is ever possible to restore the envi-ronment to its former state and to repair damage

which may be irreparable.In the circumstances where the owner of the pol-lutant fails to comply with the aforementioned obligations, cannot promptly be identified, orrequires the assistance of the Director, the Di-rector:• conservesasignificantcontroloverthemeas-

ures put in place in the prevention, elimination orreductionof theadverseeffectof thespill;

• the restorationof theenvironment to its for-merstateand;

• thedisposalof thepollutant.In order for the Director to effectively action these measures, the Act grants substantial pow-ers to any person engaged in an action or meas-ure taken by the Director to enter any premises without warrant, construct or set up any struc-ture, machinery, materials and equipment on any premises and remove the pollutant.In view of the possibility of the Director incur-ring costs and expenses in devising and imple-menting the afore-mentioned measures, the Act ensures that the Director will recover these costs andexpenseswhicharedeemedtobecivildebtsowed by the owner of the pollutant to the Gov-ernment of Mauritius.But what about the prejudice suffered by citizens, by those whose livelihood depend on the sea, by those who wish to live in a pollution free environ-ment, by the future generations who will have to bear the consequences of today’s disaster? And whataboutthefinancialmeansof theownerof the pollutant to compensate?The Act aims to safeguard any person affected in any way by a spill and afford the latter a right to damages from the owner of a pollutant. In an endeavour to facilitate the claims of individuals, the Act imposes the following presumptions on the owner of a pollutant:• theownerof apollutantispresumedtobelia-bleforanydamagescausedbyaspill;

• theownerof apollutantwhich is spilledwillalways be deemed to be the guardian of the pollutant;

• apollutantwillalwaysbedeemedtobeinthecustodyof theownerof thepollutant;

• theburdenof provingthatthedamagewasnotcaused by the pollutant which was spilled, will always rest on the owner of the pollutant

Although the Act aims at protecting the rights of individuals to compensation, can it be said that it safeguards our environment from ecological disasters? It is apparent that our laws place more emphasis on the cure than on the prevention, but in matters of environmental laws, shouldn’t an approach which aspires to preventing harm be favoured over one which aims at remedying it?

[Source:ENSafrica,Lexology–07August2020]

POST SCRIPTUM4

Mauritius may be experiencing its first major oil spill and a potential ecological catastrophe following the running aground of the MV Wakashio on 25 July 2020. The vessel ran aground on a reef off Pointe d’Esny in the vicinity of Blue Bay Marine Park. Whilst questions pertaining as to how the vessel ran aground on the reef of Mauritius remain unanswered, in view of this catastrophic turn of events, it begs the question as to whether our environmental laws will efficiently protect our marine ecosystem and remedy any harm caused to our environment

MV WAKASHIO

In a pandemic, billionaires are richer than ever. Why aren’t they giving more?

A decade ago, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett did an important thing. They organized the Giving Pledge to

inspire their fellow billionaires to donate more money to charity. On 4 August 2010, the first group of billionaires announced their in-tention to give away over half their wealth to charity. Over the last dec-ade, they’ve been joined by many more.A decade later, however, two obvi-ous problems have emerged.First, billionaire wealth has expand-ed at a phenomenal rate. Of the 62 living Pledgers who were billion-aires in 2010, their personal wealth has increased by 95%, from $376bn to $734bn in 2020 dollars.They’d pledged to give away half. Instead, their wealth has nearly doubled.Not even the pandemic has slowed them down. From March to July 2020, the 100 US billionaires who are currently part of the Giving Pledge saw their total wealth in-crease $214bn – an increase of 28% in just four months.Many have stepped up to give dur-ing the pandemic. But their giving is not keeping pace with their ex-ploding wealth.This leads to the second problem: in all likelihood, most of what they give away won’t go to on-the-

ground charities, but to private family foundations often controlled by wealthy heirs and their advis-ers. Instead of supporting charities on the frontlines of problem solv-ing, these billions end up sitting in tax-advantaged intermediaries.

You may be thinking: it’s their money, they can do with it as they choose.But the notion that philanthropy is a private preserve, apart from the government, is a myth. The wealth-ier the donor, the more advantaged the charitable tax deduction be-comes. For every dollar donated by a billionaire to their private foun-dation, we the taxpayers chip in as much as 74¢ on the dollar in lost tax revenue.For this reason, the philanthropy of billionaires is at best understood as a public-private partnership. We taxpayers have a legitimate interest in ensuring these funds serve the public interest.Through this lens, it is troubling that so much wealth is sequestered in private foundations and do-nor-advised funds – and that these are the fastest-growing areas of the giving sector. There is over $1.2tn parked in private foundations and

an estimated $120bn in donor-ad-vised funds.Private foundations are required to give away – or “pay out” in charity lingo – at least 5% of their assets each year, ostensibly to working charities. But administrative over-head, salaries and gifts to other tax-advantaged funds are counted toward this 5%. And many larger foundations treat this 5% as a ceil-ing, not a floor.Donor-advised funds, or DAFs, have no mandated payout at all. The donor takes a generous tax break when placing funds into the DAF, but the DAF does not legally have to pay out – ever. Donors can set up a DAF and pass it on to their grandchildren, who may or may not ever share the money with active charities.Private philanthropy has always been a form of power for wealthy donors. But as wealth inequality has exploded in recent decades, it’s concentrating that private power in even fewer hands – all subsidized by public taxpayers.This has troubling implications for charities, who are forced to cater to a smaller number of mega-donors, and our democracy. As governments at all levels face growing austerity from the Covid-19 pandemic and recession, billionaire philanthropy may well fill the vacuum for local services and institutions. But unlike

local taxpayer dollars, billionaire foundations don’t answer to voters.

So what can be done?The first step is for Congress to pass an “emergency charity stimu-lus”, a three-year mandate to in-crease the payouts of foundations and donor-advised funds. This would move $200bn to frontline charities doing urgent work dur-ing the pandemic – without costing taxpayers another dime, since these funds have been “paid for” by tax deductions.But ultimately we need a movement to democratize charitable giving. We should reorient the rules gov-erning taxes and charity to discour-age the concentration of power and decision-making. Taxpayers should not subsidize private fortresses of wealth and power that will exist for generations, controlled by the same families and their professional ad-visers.The implication for Gates, Buf-fett and the other Giving Pledgers is clear: give more money – not to private foundations, but directly to working charities and commu-nity-controlled foundations. Ten years from now, on the 20th anni-versary of the Giving Pledge, the private family foundation should no longer exist.

POST SCRIPTUM5

Billionaires get huge tax breaks to park money in private family foundations operated by wealthy heirs. Little goes to actual charity work

OPINION/PHILANTHROPY

[Source: The Guardian, 03 August 2020. Chuck Collins directs the Program on Inequality and co-edits Inequality.org at the Institute for Policy Studies. He is a co-author of the report Gilded Giving 2020: How Wealth Inequality Distorts Philanthropy and Imperils Democracy]

DEBRIEF6

La faim progresse dans toutes les ré-gions d’Afrique, en particulier en Af-rique subsaharienne, et une alimenta-

tion saine est devenue un luxe qui est hors de portée de nombreux Africains. Même sans prendre en compte les effets de COVID-19, l’Afrique est loin d’atteindre l’objectif con-venu d’éliminer la faim à l’horizon 2030.

Les preuves sont frappantes. L’Organisa-tion des Nations Unies pour l’alimentation et l’agriculture (FAO), en collaboration avec quatre autres agences des Nations Unies, a fait paraître le rapport ‘L’État de la sécurité alimentaire et de la nutrition dans le monde’ (SOFI), qui est le rapport mondial le plus fiable dans ce domaine.

Le rapport a révélé que l’Afrique présente la plus forte prévalence de la sous-alimen-tation – plus que le double de la moyenne mondiale – et, comparée aux autres régions, elle enregistre la croissance la plus rapide du nombre de personnes souffrant de la faim. Si les tendances récentes persistent, l’Afri-que devancera l’Asie en 2030 et deviendra la région comptant le plus grand nombre de personnes sous-alimentées, soit la moitié du nombre total.

Cela représente une énorme perte de po-tentiel pour les individus, les communautés, les économies et les nations.

La COVID-19 vient aggraver le problème.

À cause des perturbations de l’approvision-nement alimentaire et des moyens d’exist-ence, de nombreux ménages ont de plus en plus de difficultés à avoir accès aux aliments nutritifs, en particulier les plus pauvres et les plus vulnérables. Les projections prélim-inaires présentées dans le rapport suggèrent que la pandémie de COVID-19 pourrait faire augmenter le nombre de personnes sous-alimentées dans le monde de 83 à 132 millions de personnes.

Une alimentation saine ne doit pas être un luxe

Le coût d’une alimentation saine est supérieur au seuil de pauvreté international, ce qui signifie que les personnes qui gagnent moins de 1,90 dollar par jour n’ont pas les moyens pour consommer suffisamment de calories et de nutriments provenant de di-vers groupes d’aliments.

Comparé à la situation d’autres régions, ce manque de moyens pose le plus grand défi en Afrique, où presque un milliard de personnes n’ont pas les moyens d’avoir une alimentation saine.

On estime que plus de 80 pour cent de la population en Afrique de l’Ouest n’ont pas les moyens de s’offrir une alimentation

saine, ce qui représente le pourcentage le plus élevé au monde. En Afrique subsaha-rienne, une alimentation saine coûte 3,2 fois plus que le seuil de pauvreté, et la situation est encore pire dans les pays confrontés à

une crise prolongée comme les conflits.Le seuil de pauvreté lui-même doit

être revu afin d’inclure le coût des aliments nutritifs dans les besoins fondamentaux de la vie.

Une alimentation saine ne doit pas être un luxe

pour les Africains

COVID-19

MV Wakashio : Casela accueillera les oiseaux affectés par la marée noire

Dans le sillage du naufrage du vraquier MV Wakashio au large de Pointe d’Esny, Casela Nature Parks se joint à l’effort national en recueillant les oiseaux affectés par la marée noire causée par l’écoulement dans le lagon de plusieurs tonnes de litres d’huile lourde provenant du vraquier. L’équipe de Casela Nature Parks se chargera de nettoyer, soigner et réhabiliter les oiseaux qui seront recueillis et déposés par les autorités, ONGs, volontaires et mem-bres du public, et ce du lundi au dimanche de 9j à 17h. Ces dern-iers devront au préalable appeler le numéro d’urgence 5 7276076 mis en place à cet effet.

Terra et Rentacolor MTB Challenge : Victoire éclatante pour Alexandre Mayer et Romain Fréderic

Les courses de cyclisme sur route et de VTT ont livré un beau spectacle. Organisés par le groupe Terra, le dimanche 9 août, à Belle Vue, le Rentacolor MTB Challenge et le Grand Prix de Terra ont donné lieu à de belles compétitions. Alexandre Mayer a rem-porté la 5ème édition du Terra & Rentacolor MTB Challenge, dis-putée sur une distance de 45 kms. Romain Fréderic de FFSC-KFC s’est imposé, quant à lui, lors du Grand Prix de Terra. Soumise à un protocole “Health & Safety” éprouvé, ces deux compétitions ont donné l’opportunité à tous les participants de participer à cette journée et de partager un moment festif en famille dans des conditions optimales. Terra tient à féliciter tous les participants pour leur présence et leur belle performance.

Même avant l’apparition de la COVID-19, l’Afrique était déjà confrontée à une crise d’accès aux aliments sains et frais

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CIDP : Acteur clé d’une industrie à fort potentiel de croissance

De l’identification des principes actifs aux recherches cliniques, le Centre International de Dévelop-pement Pharmaceutique (CIDP) propose une variété de produits et services dans les domaines phar-maceutiques et cosmétiques. Créé en 2004, il est devenu un acteur incontournable d’un secteur ap-pelé à prendre une place plus im-portante dans l’économie locale au cours des années à venir. Grâce à

son expertise, reconnue à travers le monde, et des équipements de high-tech dont il est le seul à dis-poser dans la région, le centre en-tame en effet une nouvelle phase de son développement. Afin de mieux faire connaître les activités et le savoir-faire, une visite des locaux du CIDP, situés au Biopark Mau-ritius à Phoenix, a été organisée à l’intention des médias le mercredi 12 août 2020.

À travers son pôle R&D, le CIDP explore et valorise les ingrédients actifs issus de la biodiversité de la région océan Indien. Pour ce faire, le centre s’appuie sur ses deux labo-ratoires spécialisés dans l’extraction des principes actifs et de biologie cellulaire. Le centre propose égale-ment à l’industrie pharmaceutique et cosmétique des tests précliniques in vitro et ex vivo sur des ingrédi-ents et des produits finis.

DEBRIEF7

Intitulée The post-Covid-19 im-pact on Credit Risk Management, cette séance a été animée par Alex-is Delamaire, Managing Director de Credit Guarantee Insurance Co. Ltd, partenaire de l’initiative. L’événement s’est tenu dans les locaux de la MCCI au Anglo-Mau-ritius House à Port-Louis.

« Ce genre d’événement est une occa-sion offerte aux membres de présenter leurs services aux opérateurs. Les thèmes proposés touchent l’ensemble de la com-munauté des affaires. Il est extrêmement important pour les acteurs économiques de comprendre les changements qui s’opèrent dans le monde des affaires. La rencontre d’aujourd’hui vise à donner à nos membres une vue d’ensemble sur la gestion des risques, en particulier ceux liés au crédit », explique Yousouf Ismaël, secrétaire général de la MCCI.

Pour Alexis Delamaire, cette initiative arrive à point nommé. « La crise de Covid-19 a conduit de nombreuses entreprises à revoir leur ‘risk appetite’. Certaines dynamiques seront durables, et les acteurs économi-

ques devront mettre en place les mesures nécessaires pour s’adapter. Je remercie la MCCI pour l’opportunité qu’elle nous offre pour présenter nos services de con-seils et d’accompagnement aux entrepris-es », soutient ce dernier.

La MCCI organise une présentation sur la gestion du risque

de crédit

POST-COVID-19

Wakashio : Le Groupe MCB apporte sa pierre à l’édifice

Le Groupe MCB s’est mobilisé au cours de ces derniers jours afin d’apporter le meilleur soutien possible face à la crise envi-ronnementale à laquelle nous faisons face. La MCB a immédiate-ment fait don de Rs 3 millions à la Mauritian Wildlife Foundation pour l’aider à protéger la faune et la flore de l’île aux Aigrettes et de la zone du Sud-Est des méfaits de la marée noire. L’ONG a d’ailleurs déjà déplacé plusieurs espèces, mais la tâche reste ex-trêmement compliquée. Ce soutien vient se rajouter au soutien annuel à hauteur de Rs 5 millions, déjà octroyé à la Mauritian Wildlife. Le Groupe MCB soutenait ainsi, entre autre, un pro-gramme de formation visant la protection de l’environnement sur les îlots du Sud-Est aujourd’hui menacés. Parmi eux l’île de la Passe, l’île aux Fouquets, et l’îlot Gabriel.

La MCB met à disposition 5,000 jours/hommes pour aider au nettoyage des côtes

Ces derniers jours ont été marqués par un élan de solidarité

qui s’est étendu au sein de notre Groupe et sur toute l’île. Dans la droite ligne de cet élan solidaire, la MCB a décidé de lancer une initiative exceptionnelle de « Social Leave » qui ciblera les opérations de nettoyage à venir des plages et des mangroves. « A ce titre, nous allons dédier 5 000 jours/hommes à cet exercice de nettoyage et de préservation de notre environnement. Nos em-ployés seront ainsi libérés afin de pouvoir apporter, là où il y en aura besoin, leur aide. Nous sommes conscients qu’une action coordonnée contre la marée noire et les dégâts qu’elle entraine devra s’étendre sur plusieurs mois et sommes disposés à soutenir au mieux toute action pérenne à travers l’implication de nos em-ployés », déclare Raoul Gufflet, Deputy CEO, MCB Ltd.

Kanuhura Maldives bestowed with Tripadvisor Travellers’ Choice Award

Sun Resorts’ 5* luxury hotel, Kanuhura Maldives has been recognised as one of the best luxury hotels in the region of Asia by TripAdvisor. Kanuhura Maldives is listed among the ‘Top 25 hotels – Asia’ in the following categories: Best Service, Best Lux-ury and Best of the Best – Tripadvisor’s highest honor. World’s largest travel platform, TripAdvisor, has honored 6 properties in the Maldives among the top 25 hotels in Asia. Clency Ro-meo, General Manager Kanuhura Maldives stated: “We are very grateful to every guest who took the time to share their experience on TripAdvisor. The team constantly strives to ensure that our guests always leave Kanuhura with timeless memories and this recognition is a tribute to that. We cannot wait to now welcome guests back on October 1st!”

Quels sont les effets de la crise du Covid-19 sur la gestion des risques liés au crédit ? Le vendredi 7 août, la Mauritius Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) a organisé une présentation sur ce sujet à l’intention de ses membres. L’objectif étant de les aider à mieux comprendre les nouvelles dynamiques qui se dessinent et qui

impacteront leurs activités sur le court et moyen terme

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Ils étaient plus de 1 500 volon-taires à s’être relayés au Creative Park de Beau Plan durant le week-end dernier. Leur mission : fab-riquer des « babas » en utilisant la paille de canne. En effet, la marée noire provoquée par l’échouement du MV Wakashio a donné lieu à une mobilisation citoyenne sans précédent. C’est grâce à une initia-tive conjointe de Terra et du groupe Attitude que des volontaires étaient à pied d’œuvre depuis le vendredi 7 août. Rien que durant le week-end du 7-8 août, plus de 8 km de « babas » flottants ont été conçus.

Au total, ce sont plus de 45 or-

ganisations qui ont apporté leur pierre à l’édifice pour soutenir au mieux la production et l’accom-pagnement des bénévoles. Parmi elles, on compte : le groupe Terra (l’Aventure du Sucre, Grays Inc., Terragen, Terragri, Novaterra & la Smart City de Beau Plan), les hô-tels Attitude, Akoe, Aremo Mauri-tius, Aspen, By Agathe Bess, CFH Manufacturer & Wholesaler, la Compagnie Sucrière de Saint An-toine, le Domaine Labourdonnais, Espace Maison, Espace Marin, Evaco Group, Event by Bedouin, FTL, General Construction,

Grand Baie La Croisette, Green Impact, Habitas Contracting, Hob-by Word, IBL Group (Healthac-tiv & IBL Life), Island Brush, Ki pu cuit, La Clef des Champs, Le Square Beauté, Le Studio Dancing School, Meetyourjob.com, MU Sail Maker, Mediatiz, Mr Bricolage, Ox-enham, Patrick Mavros, Phoenix Beverage Ltd, Price Guru, PWC Mauritius, Quality Beverages, Rhem Grinaker, Rotary Rivière du Rem-part, Stena Lines, Sotracom, Super U, Transinvest Construction, Wool-worth, Brick Hardware Ltd, Wheel & Barrow Ltd et Smarttraveller.mu.

Creative Park de Beau Plan : Plus de 1 500 volontaires réunis pour limiter les dégâts causés par le MV Wakashio