Situated off the coasts of Southern Africa in the Indian Ocean, The Republic of Mauritius (“Mauritius”) is a strategic global business centre. The island offers an ideal environment to investors and corporates to operate their business and provide an attractive package of fiscal incentives, coupled with a conducive regulatory framework.
Mauritius is internationally recognised for its rule of law, political and social stability coupled with good governance practice. In fact, Mauritius is a rare example of safe heaven on earth whereby there is social peace in a multicultural society.
Mauritius is strategically located in the Indian Ocean, about 2,000 kilometres off the south eastern coast of Africa and is situated in an ideal time zone (GMT+4)
The island was first discovered by the Arabs during the 10th century. The first Europeans to have visited Mauritius were the Portuguese in the year 1510. The Dutch who settled in the island in 1598 named it Mauritius after Prince Maurice of Nassau. Among other things, the Dutch introduced sugar cane and the Java deer before leaving in 1710.
About five years later, in 1715, the French occupied the island, renaming it “Isle de France”. A harbour was built and named Port Louis, after the ruling king Louis XV. Port Louis became the capital of Mauritius.
In 1810, the British took over the island and renamed it Mauritius. The British abolished slavery in 1835 and brought labour from India and China to further develop the island and especially work in the fields.
Mauritius was granted independence on 12 March 1968 and became a republic on 12 March 1992 although it remained a member of the Commonwealth.
Mauritius has a hybrid legal system based on English and French Laws, with the Privy Council of the United Kingdom as the highest Court of Appeal. Relevant anti-money laundering and terrorist financing legislation has been enacted in line with international conventions. Furthermore, the commercial law in Mauritius is a mixture of both the English Common Law and the French Code Napoleon. Both the Companies Act 2001 and the Business Facilitation Act 2006 have indeed made simpler the operational framework of doing business in Mauritius as pointed out in the World Bank, Ease of Doing Business report.
The Mauritian economy is one of the fastest growing economies in sub-Saharan Africa, moving from a mono-crop sugar dominated economy to a services-oriented one. The emphasis is nowadays on an innovation-driven economy. Mauritius has been successful in positioning itself as a hassle-free destination in terms of doing business. Companies may be incorporated and be operational in just 3 days. In addition, Mauritius has one of the world’s most generous tax regimes, whereby individual and corporate tax are harmonised at a low 15% rate. Furthermore, dividends, capital gains and inheritance are not taxable and there is no exchange control. Mauritius has also signed non-double taxation agreements with 39 countries so far, as well as Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements with almost 36 countries.
Mauritius is a member of the British Commonwealth and is associated to the European Union as an Africa-Caribbean- Pacific (“ACP”) state. Mauritius is also a member of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (“COMESA”) and of the South Africa Development Community (“SADC”). It is a founder member of the Indian Ocean Commission (“IOC”) as well as of the Indian Ocean Rim Association for regional Co-operation (“IOR-ARC”) and one of the Member states of the ACP/EU Convention.
