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The third India-Africa Entrepreneurship and Investment Summit regrouped around 150 venture capitalists, angel investors and prominent entrepreneurs from India and Africa to explore Mauritius’ potential as a conduit for fostering tech and financial innovation between India and Africa. India is today the world’s fifth largest economy and is increasingly exploring investment opportunities in Africa, having ranked as one of the top five investors into our neighbouring continent over the years. Mauritius has successfully positioned itself as a reliable partner for trade and investment into the continent and leveraging its multicultural awareness and strategic geographical location, the Island has established itself as an ideal Hub for both India and Africa.

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The first Mauritius-China FTA Cooperation Forum was held in Mauritius end of August with the aim to ensure the effective operation and implementation of the Free Trade Agreement that has been signed in January 2021 between the two countries. Since the signature of the agreement, Mauritius has benefited from immediate duty-free access on the Chinese market on 7,504 tariff lines. During this meeting, the Rules of Proceduce establishing the FTA joint Commission has been signed by Mr. Han Yong, the Director of the Department of the World Trade Organisation Affairs, Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China and Mr. N Boodhoo, Director of Trade Policy in Mauritius.

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Mauritius welcomed in July a delegation of 20 individuals from the public and private sectors of the Republic of Togo with the aim to foster economic growth and reinforce the bilateral trade relations between the two countries. The forum acted as a platform to explore mutual trade and investment opportunities and engage in discussions related to the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) as well as:

• Business Environment and Investment Facilitation

• Digital Economy and ICT/BPO

• Industry, Textile, and Apparel

• Financial Services

• Agro-Industry

• Real Estate & Tourism

Discussions concluded with the signing of 2 Memoranda of Understanding – the first between the Economic Development Board of Mauritius, and the Minister of Investment Promotion of the Republic of Togo. The second MoU was signed between the Mauritius Chambers of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) with the Togolese Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

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Mauritius has been represented by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade at the BRICS summit in support of Africa having a more powerful stance in BRICS. This underscores the aim to facilitate the building of economic ties and investment opportunities between this trading block and Africa as well as emerging countries.

The theme of the conference was Partnership for Mutually Accelerated Growth, Sustainable Development and Inclusive Multilateralism. As from 1 January 2024, there will be 6 new countries added to the bloc: Argentina, Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. On the economic growth front, enhancing the power of Africa within BRICS will encourage the flourishing of new opportunities in terms of access to new markets and longterm investment, technology transfer and cooperation.

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A two-year collaboration has been sealed between the afore-mentioned three parties with the aim to facilitate knowledge sharing and furthering the capabilities of French and Mauritian institutions to promote responsible economic growth. The project is funded through AFD’s Technical Expertise and Experience Transfer Fund for an amount of EUR 34,000. The expected outcome of this partnership is an exchange of skills and experiences, which will strengthen the mutually beneficial economic ties between the two countries. The French Ambassador to Mauritius, Mrs. Florence Caussé-Tissier, highlighted that this partnership will facilitate trade relations between France and Mauritius.

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On 15 March 2023, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) issued a communique to inform the public and stakeholders of the financial services industry of updates brought to the Guidance Notes on Security Token Offerings and Security Token Trading Systems to enable a Securities Trading System (“STS”) to hold custody of Security Tokens.

As such, the above is deemed to be valid once approved by the FSC, in the instance that:

(i) it is demonstrated to the satisfaction of the FSC that the business model and infrastructure of the STS would not require the services of a separate custodian; and
(ii) it is subject to such terms and conditions as the FSC deems fit

Access the updated Guidance Notes here

The Economic Development Board (EDB) is set to sign three Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with governmental agencies in the western and southern parts of Africa, namely:

(i) Le Centre de Promotion des Investissements de la République de Côte d’Ivoire;
(ii) Le Ministère de la Promotion de l’Investissement de la République Togolaise; and
(iii) the Trade & Investment KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa.

The MoUs will serve the purpose of:

– implementing a practical framework for cooperation with regard to Trade and Investment opportunities;
– designing a common strategy to strengthen economic relations;
– strengthening institutional relations and capacity building through cooperation; and
– ensuring a coherent approach to identify areas of comparative advantage, competence to strengthen investment, trade promotion and facilitation.

Mauritius was honoured with two Gold Awards at the World Travel Market (WTM) Responsible Tourism Awards Africa.

WTM Africa organises leading global networking events all year round for travel professionals looking to drive the success of their business by providing them with up-to-date industry trends and expertise as well as the opportunity to build their connections and the WTM Responsible Tourism Awards Africa recognises and rewards exceptional practices and major actors of the tourism industry who vouch for and work towards sustainable tourism.

The local Tourism Authority topped the list in the ‘Best for Local Sourcing, Craft and Food’ category as well as the ‘Addressing Climate Change’ category. These Gold Awards are indicative of the efforts being deployed by the Tourism Authority, notably through the introduction of Sustainable Island Mauritius (SIM), a project funded by the European Union in the framework of the SWITCH Africa Green programme aimed at promoting sustainable tourism, in paving the way towards a greener industry.

For more information on the WTM Responsible Tourism Awards Africa, click here

Air Mauritius, the country’s national carrier, is set to resume its biweekly direct flights from Delhi as from 3 May 2023, after a gap of three years, as announced during a Networking Gala organised by Air Mauritius in collaboration with the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority on 14 April 2023.
The flight schedules are as follows:

• MK 745 DELHI – MAURITIUS: Thursdays & Sundays, departing at 08H00 and arriving at 14H00 local time

• MK 744 MAURITIUS – DELHI: Wednesdays & Saturdays departing at 21H15 and arriving at 06H15 on the next day.

The resumption of regular direct flights is highly anticipated as it facilitates commute between the two countries and Krešimir Kučko, CEO of Air Mauritius, further talks of future avenues to be explored with Air India for “seamless connectivity via Delhi as well as Mumbai to/from several destinations in India.”

Access the official communique here for more information.