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While other countries may stagnate under economic pressures, this proud African country of fewer than 1.3 million, situ-ated in the Indian Ocean, has made a successful expansion from sugar produc-tion to a dynamic and diverse economy.

As well as tourism and agriculture, niche manufacturing and financial services now contribute to the nation’s coffers, and there is an increased focus on education and enterprise building as the country seeks to become a knowledge and invest-ment hub for the region.

In response to business reforms, politi-cal stability, and a sound legal and regula-tory system, investment has been flooding in. The fact that the country’s final court of appeal is the Privy Council in London is one of the strongest investment incentives.

Having concentrated on Asia for trade for more than 40 years, Mauritius has made robust efforts to integrate with its mainland counterparts, particularly those within the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC.) Last year the government announced the creation of a $16.4 million African

Fund, an export-to-Africa subsidy, and enhanced support for global events that showcase the country as a hub for the continent. The country has double-taxation agreements with 18 African countries: it is held up as a beacon for global business and clean financial services and there is vast potential for shipping, logistics, and manufacturing. It consistently tops the tables for Africa for transpar-ency, governance, ease of doing business, and economic freedom.

Minister of Industry, Commerce and Consumer Protection Cader Sayed Hossen explains why Mauritius is such a good business prop-

osition. “First of all, anybody’s money is safe here,” he says. “We are a trustwor-thy country with strong institutions and a rule of law. We are also very globalized, exporting to 150 countries around the world. As an example, 5% of all medical catheters are made in Mauritius.

“We are extremely open. People can come here, start up a company, and be operating within three days. There is no control on foreign currency flows, but at the same time we are strict on crime and money laundering and are proud to be on the OECD’s White List,” he adds.

“Our judicial system is strong and transparent. Investment can take place through Mauritius as well as just in Mauritius, owing to the various tax incentives and commercial agreements we have,” he says. “I believe very strongly that within the next 10 to 15 years we will start doing important things in the 2.3 million square kilometers

MauritiusKnowledge and innovationDespite having a well-earned reputation as a blissful vacation destination, Mauritius is carving out a commercial niche.

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James BenoitCEO, AfrAsia

Clairette Ah-HenChief Executive, FSC

Dawood A. RawatChairman Emeritus, BAI

“We see ourselves as a partner to Africa, and not as a mere transit point for investments.”

Richard Arlove, CEO, Abax Services

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of ocean we have. The African continental shelf forms part of this: if they have found oil off the coast of Kenya and gas off the coast of Mozambique, we see no reason why one day we could not fi nd the same in our waters.”

Looking to AfricaMauritius-based groups and companies are embracing the new opportunities. GML Group has achieved top ranking in the Mauritian 100, according to the country’s Business Magazine, and it is the fi rst business conglomerate in Mauritius with a footprint on the African market through its various subsidiaries. Its impact secured it a nomination for African Business of the Year in 2013.

GML’s activities span many sectors, and the group has invest-ments in about 300 companies, including some of Mauritius’s lead-ing fi rms, such as IBL, Phoenix Beverages, LUX* Resorts, AfrAsia Bank, Alteo, Abax, and many others. The rapidly expanding group employs more than 15,000 people and boasts around 22,000 shareholders.

“Mauritius has lots to offer in terms of quality of life, doing business, and being to Africa what Singapore is to Asia,” says CEO Arnaud Lagesse. “We have good knowledge of services, and Mauritians are good workers. Our strength is in our capacity to create ‘unity in diversity’; diversity of people, experiences, cultures, and religions, with a deep sense of belonging to our nation. Today, we offer foreign investors a platform of services and internationally recognized competencies.”

Expected to achieve $1 billion in turnover this year, GML fi nds its star on the rise, but, as Lagesse says: “Turnover is vanity, profi t is sanity, so let’s focus on a better bottom line at the end of the day. For the year under review and ending June 2014, I must say that all the companies within the Group are performing well.”

GML is helping Asian investment go into Africa through its fi nancial services cluster, made up of international management companies, such as Abax and its bank, AfrAsia.

As Richard Arlove, CEO of Abax, a global fi rm that manages around $16 billion worth of assets, says: “Africa has been a clear part of our strategy for years now. We have a high-level business development team, which is constantly on the ground on the con-

tinent. We are on the board of all of our clients, which enables us to build up a certain amount of intelligence, as we are familiarized with the projects that are available in Africa, and we can match that with the fi nances that we know could be made available to them. We see ourselves as a partner to Africa, and not as a mere transit point for investments.”

Over at AfrAsia Bank, a boutique fi nancial services provider that tailors innovative banking solutions for both the local and inter-national markets, CEO James Benoit encourages clients to “bank different.”

“Innovation is very important for us,” he says. “It is no longer a question of why you should invest in Africa—more how you should invest in Africa. We have come up with lots of new investment products that are related to Africa and are looking to invest further into the region’s banking systems and implement more automatic banking technologies.”

Mauritius boasts a thriving textile industry and is competing well against Asian manufacturers. As nearby markets such as South Af-rica grow, the country’s commitment to good quality, fairly produced garments, and reliable delivery is paying off. As part of SADC and COMESA, Mauritius enjoys a 45% duty advantage, which gives it a strong competitive edge.

“Mauritius is the second supplier of textiles into South Africa af-ter China, which is very signifi cant for a small country,” says Ahmed Parkar, CEO of the Star Knitwear Group, which provides knitwear to global brands Top Shop and Forever 21, among others. “The U.S. market is also very interested in us, thanks to our duty status, our

Maradiva is a luxury resort of reference in the Indian Ocean.

GML:

• No.1 Group in Mauritius, • No. 3 Group in the region, • At the forefront of innovation, • Expanding horizons, • Diversifying activities, • Sharing knowledge and • Creating successful partnerships, locally and regionally.

The key to navigating our complex world is anticipation,having the focus and expertise to create and develop new ideas.

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The Art of Anticipation

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fashion prowess, and the fact we are reliable and fairly priced.”The wealth of activities is also attracting more discerning tourists

to the stunning island, with an 18% growth in the Russian market and 30% growth in the Chinese market recorded last year.

Constance Hotels and Resorts is a Mauritian hotel group that owns seven luxury hotels and resorts in Mauritius, Seychelles, Maldives, and Madagascar. A member of the prestigious Leading Hotels of the World since 2013, the group is now increasing its presence in the United Arab Emirates and Africa.

“I think our difference lies in the qual-ity of our people, our management, and the training we give them,” says Jean Jacques Vallet, executive director. “We are very strong in wines, food, and in our passion for service.” The group’s Mauritian hotels, the Constance Le Prince Maurice, and the Constance Belle Mare Plage, boast white-sand beaches, spas, and exclusive kids’ clubs, as well as tennis, golf, and water-sports.

Meanwhile, situated on the beachfront of Flic-en-Flac, a beauti-ful seaside village on the west coast of Mauritius, the Maradiva Re-sort and Spa prides itself on providing the ultimate luxury package for the very wealthy with its own helipad and Rolls-Royce fl eet.

“I think the fact that we are family-owned and grassroot Mau-ritians makes us more authentic,” says executive director, Sanjiv Ramdanee. “When you go to a large group, everything is stand-ardized. Our target market is the elite, and for this reason we go

wherever the rich go. We have 65 villas with pools in a substantially large environment, so the idea of exclusivity and the feel of a private club is more what we are looking for. Our people are our main differ-entiator. We are well-educated with a natural sense of hospitality.”

Epitomizing the true entrepreneurial spirit of Mauritius, Om-nicane Ltd. has diversifi ed from sugar producer to become a tour

de force in energy generation and real estate development. Having acquired an expanse of land close to the SSR airport, Omnicane is working with the European Investment Bank to build a multipurpose city that will do much to leverage Mauri-tius’s hub potential.

As CEO Jacques d’Unienville attests, “Mauritius is very blessed with its loca-

tion, even more so as the economic gravity of the world is moving further east and south. It occupies a strategic position between two growth poles, namely Asia and Africa, with very diverse populations and huge potential for development.”

“It is no longer a question of why you should invest in Africa, but how.” James Benoit, AfrAsia Bank

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Star Knitwear Group Ltd. — leading garment manufacturer and exporter of Mauritius. Constance offers two championship golf courses in Mauritius.

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Bringing a World ofopportunities to

Africa

With a fi rm commitment to fairness, transparency and effective regulation, the FSC Mauritius is the regulator for the fi nancial services sector other than ban-king and global business in Mauritius. It actively contributes to the development of Mauritius as a reputable International Financial Center.

The OECD observes: “Mauritius has built a sound network of Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements, notably with other African countries, and a strong focus on an ‘Africa Strategy’ for trade and investment was highlighted in the 2012 Budget Speech.”

Clairette Ah-Hen, the chief executive of FSC Mauritius since August 2011, has lengthy experience in fi nancial services. She says that the FSC strictly adheres to rules and has implemented required international standards to maintain the position of Mauritius as a jurisdiction of substance.

Financial Services Commission-MauritiusTel: +230 403 7000 | Fax: +230 467 7172Email:fscmauritius@intnet.mu|www.fscmauritius.org

Promoting Transparency

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As he blasts away at the clichéd view of Africa and presents his country, Mauritius, as a place of innovation and enterprise, Dawood Rawat, chairman emeritus of the British American Investment Co. (Mauritius) Ltd. (BAI), makes a passionate ambassador intent on changing lazy perceptions.

The head of one of the most sophisticated financial groups on the continent, with a turnover of $500 million and a portfolio worth $1 billion in more than 50 companies, Rawat is an astute business-man and an expert on the African market. Having been in Mauritius for 40 years, BAI has grown up with the continent, appreciating its dynamism and diversity, and learning on the ground the needs and the nuances of a potential customer base of millions.

“Our investment strategy is simple,” Rawat says. “We follow the development of the African economy and the people’s ability to take advantage of innovation and creation. The first step is to bring the more developed countries into the financial world and allow the average person to open a bank account. This is why we are providing people with insurance and banking services. Equity Bank in Kenya, for example, has 8 million customers already, so we are on the right path. When we first went there, we told people about the value of insurance, and now you can see the results.

“We follow every stage of the develop-ment of these countries to give them not only what they need, but help them go further by being more creative than other companies,” he says. “In Kenya, people can now buy insurance over the phone, something we cannot even do in Mauritius.”

BAI is really an African company based in Mauritius because of the many advantages this island has to offer, such as political stability and a robust judicious system, Rawat explains:

“We have been working actively in the region for many decades, so we are not like many companies today coming in a late stage of its development,” he says.

An Integral Part of AfricaMauritius is very far from being just a remote tourism destination, Rawat says.

“People need to understand that Mauritius is an integral part of Africa. A company can establish itself here and it is fundamentally the same as establishing in Kenya or another such place, with the added advantages in terms of the political and judicial system based on French and British law. Africans are not really tourists, apart from the South Africans. Mauritius therefore has to focus on acting as a stepping-stone for investors looking at the rest of Africa.

“We need to attract wealthy foreigners and investors to come here, and together or separately with Mauritius, explore the African market.

The government has taken very good measures; they make it very easy for foreign investors to establish themselves and live here. We need people to understand that Mauritius is Africa, and it is the perfect place for investors to have a second home.”

Rawat joined BAI (Mauritius) in 1970, and quickly moved up the ranks to become the worldwide company’s second in command after just four years at the U.S. corporate head office. He was named president two years later and carried out a management buyout two years after that.

The man who left was a different one from the one who returned: “I belong to this island, but I have an international approach and that has been helpful in leading BAI,” he says.

“The market in Mauritius is made up of 1.3 million people, so there is no critical mass here. The critical mass for Mauritius is Africa and we at BAI have understood that for years now. I am not just talking about banking either, but about our retail activities: where we have a large presence in Kenya. I am working on opening 10 new stores across

Africa over the next few months with the aim of opening 100 stores by 2020.”

Entrepreneurial NationThe innovation doesn’t stop there. BAI also pioneered a world-class hospital in Mauritius in 2009—the Apollo Bramwell Hospital—an investment that is putting the country on the map as a leader for high-quality medical tourism.

“I think the Apollo Bramwell Hospital is the kind of entrepreneurial legacy—if we are using that word—of which I am most proud,” Rawat told Global Business. “It has only been up and running for four years, yet it has changed the face of health care in Mauritius. This shows how courageous we can be. We are improving the services all the time, by bringing in new ideas from overseas, and are attempting to create a level of service that is equal to, if not higher than, the service in the U.S.

“Clearly we do not have the same level of resources for research at our disposal, but we wish to contribute because we want to create the foundation for international professors and doctors to come here and practice their expertise.

“We need to focus much more on these things, and not so much on tourism: The truth is that tourists do not see the opportunities because they don’t leave their resorts.

“I think that we need a total rethinking of the way the country oper-ates. Mauritius is a good place for investors to establish a head office and expand into the rest of the continent, and we should focus on attracting more businesses and investors here. We are probably the most established Mauritian group in Africa with many local partner-ships, and that makes a huge difference.”•

“We are probably the most established group in Africa and that makes a huge difference.”Dawood Rawat, Chairman Emeritus, BAI Mauritius

Medical Excellence

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