A new report titled “Facilitating growth, employment and prosperity in Africa”, which examines Mauritius’s role as a leading international financial centre, has found that 4.2 million jobs in mainland Africa were supported by foreign investment mediated by Mauritius.
The report, produced by Capital Economics for the Economic Development Board of Mauritius, found that 9 percent of all foreign direct investment into mainland Africa was mediated by Mauritius, representing $82 billion (about R1.2 trillion), which generated about $6bn in tax revenues for African governments each year.
The Mauritian financial and professional services sector employed more than 15 000 people and contributed more than $1.5bn, or 12 percent of gross domestic product, to the Mauritian economy in 2019.
Mauritius ranked ahead of Canada, Ireland and the US in terms of commitment to international standards that aim to stamp out criminal activity, such as money laundering and terrorist finance.
Launching the report, Mauritian Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development Renganaden Padayachy said: “This report highlights the key role of Mauritius in enabling and facilitating growth, employment and prosperity across the African content.”
The African countries whose employment benefited from investment mediated by Mauritius included Kenya, where 1.6 million jobs were supported, Nigeria (470 000), Tanzania (250 000), South Africa (240 000), Côte d’Ivoire (200 000), and Cameroon, Ethiopia and Ghana (120 000 jobs each).
BUSINESS REPORT ONLINE