Now may be the time to open a Mauritius office
Mauritius continues to woo South African investors, now promising reforms to create a simpler, more business-friendly regulatory environment.
The island nation is expected to approve the Business Facilitation Amendment Bill on Tuesday and to implement the changes a week later.
The reforms aim to cut red tape constraints for transnational businesses and start-ups, with an e-licensing system to speed up company incorporation.
“Other countries are also making improvements and we are benchmarking against them,” said Ken Poonoosamy, MD of the Board of Investment Mauritius.
The country fell to 49th place in the World Bank’s latest Doing Business report from 32nd place last year. It remains the top ranked country in sub-Saharan Africa and is second, after Morocco, on the continent. Globally, South Africa is ranked 74th out of the 190 countries measured.
Mauritius is positioning itself as a springboard into Africa, as a complement to SA’s traditional, African-gateway role to ensure sub-Saharan Africa flourishes.
Having transitioned from a sugar-based monocrop economy with a gross domestic product per capita of about $200 in the 1970s, to a diversified economy with a GDP per capita of $9 600 in 2016, Mauritius wants to boost investment into higher-value industries, including financial services.
It has introduced tax holidays of differing lengths to encourage multinationals to base their Africa-facing global headquarters or treasury management operations on the island. Family offices run from the country are also eligible for tax breaks. Mauritius has a flat tax rate of 15% and offers tax credits of 80% on income generated outside the country.
Faraz Rojid of Mauritius’s Fi- nancial Services Promotion Agency, named the Stock Exchange of Mauritius’s dual listing agreement with the JSE and its multicurrency listing, trading and clearing services as further incentives for companies to list and raise capital on the island.