6 / 18
05
1. Do you think that Mauritius is the financial center of choice for
Africa? Why?
First and foremost, Mauritius is very much part of Africa. We are an
active member of all major regional trading blocs and associations
including theAU, theSADCand theCOMESAamongstmanyothers. As
an African jurisdiction of substance, the Mauritius IFC has been, and
continues to be instrumental in driving quality investments in Africa,
leading to sustained growth, prosperity andpoverty alleviation across
the continent. It is equally important to understand that investors
normally look for a number of factors when making key investment
decisions. These factors include, amongst others, political, social
and economic stability, a business-friendly environment and world-
class service providers. The country has a sound and trusted banking
system, ease of exiting investments, free repatriation of profits and
dividends, free movement of capital, a competitive and simple fiscal
regime, and a pool of highly capable and qualified professionals who
understand the dynamics of investing in target markets.
As an internationally recognised investment centre that adheres to
international best practices and norms, Mauritius has, and continues
to provide, a platform that offers all these factors as key benefits
and one which international investors can operate from and invest
in. It is also noteworthy that some of the most active social impact
investors, investment funds as well as philanthropic foundations have
chosen Mauritius as their financial centre, as the country boasts a
friendly and conducive environment to do business. Mauritius tops a
number of rankings in Africa including the World Bank’s Ease of Doing
Business Index; the African Index on Economic Transformation; the
Mo Ibrahim Index of African Governance; the World Economic Forum
Global Competitiveness Report and the Fraser Institute on Economic
Freedom of the World Ranking, amongst others. These therefore,
position Mauritius as the natural economy to conduct global business.
2. What have been the main initiatives by FSPA to promote the
Mauritian Global Business sector?
The FSPA has embarked on a four-limbs strategy in fulfilling its mandate
to increase the visibility of the Mauritius IFC through aggressive
communication campaigns, and ensure the sound repute of the
jurisdiction, work on the development of newofferings of theMauritius
IFC, consolidate our existing markets and engage with newmarkets, as
well as collaborate with other jurisdictions and agencies. Hereof, the
very first milestone achieved has been the launch of a new identity
of the Mauritius International Financial Centre (IFC). For too long,
Mauritius has been portrayed as a fragmented financial jurisdiction,
with no recognisable international identity or logo. The launch of this
signature and brand identity, therefore, marked the beginning of a new
era of our IFC, one which embodies a new suite of bespoke financial
products, as well as the commitment of the Government of Mauritius
to open our Centre to multinational corporations, global law firms,
international insurance operators, private banks, and high net worth
individuals. Also, in line with the vision of the Government and the
strategy laid down for our financial sector, we have worked with the
regulators and stakeholders to introduce a number of new segments
for raising the Mauritius IFC towards greater sophistication, higher
value addition and competitive offering, such as Investment Banking,
TALKING TO HARVESH SEEGOLAM,
CHIEF EXECUTIVE FINANCIAL SERVICES
PROMOTION AGENCY
Mauritius possesses a number
of factors that investors
look for while making key
investment decisions