Mauritius as Africa’s Cross-Border Finance Hub | Voices of Finance

Executives across banking, finance and investment services in Mauritius highlight the country’s evolution from a sugar-based economy into one of Africa’s leading financial centers.

Sangeetha Ramkelawon

CEO, BCP Bank

BCP Bank Mauritius is part of a large Moroccan banking group with operations across Africa, and our mandate is to promote trade finance and cross-border lending activities across the continent. Mauritius is where we see opportunities to grow the international financial center because the country has built a strong reputation for understanding and adapting to investor requirements for doing business in Africa. We are leveraging Mauritius as a bridge between Africa, Europe and Asia to attract investors looking at opportunities across the continent, whether in infrastructure, sustainable finance or trade. We are number one in Africa in terms of ease of doing business, number one in the Global Financial Centers Index, and we are investment grade. But once you are number one, you do not want to fall. It is like a crown. We have to remain investor-friendly while maintaining strong compliance frameworks so investors continue trusting the jurisdiction. The only way we can move to the next level is through innovation, digitalisation, attracting talent and improving execution.

Prashant Kumar Babhale

Managing Director & CEO, SBI Mauritius Ltd

State Bank of India Mauritius is promoted by State Bank of India, which is a leading bank in India as well as in the world, with operations in 29 countries and 200 offices. SBI Mauritius was opened in 1989 with an objective of catering to international or global banking business, and later expanded into retail banking to build a stronger connection with the local Mauritian economy. Today, we operate 14 branches and 20 ATMs in Mauritius with a customer strength of more than 80,000. Our focus is now more on SMEs and local corporates so that we can support and be part of the growth story of Mauritius, while continuing to provide retail banking services to the wider population. At the same time, Africa is going to be a future growth engine, and Mauritius gives us the readiness to understand the business environment, the opportunities, and the risks across the continent. SBI Mauritius is already a universal bank offering retail, corporate, SME, and global banking services, and we want to make Africa’s growth story part of SBI Mauritius’ growth story.

Admassu Tadesse

President & CEO, Trade and Development Bank (TDB)

The Trade and Development Bank (TDB) Group is a diversified multinational development finance group. We have a bank, an insurance company, asset management companies, a concessional fund and grant-making entity, and an academy that does capacity building. We operate in just under thirty countries across Africa, and Mauritius is our headquarters for the group. Mauritius has established itself as a very strong financial services center that enables the rest of the world to come to Africa. About 10% of FDI across Africa comes through Mauritius. Not that the capital necessarily originates here, but Mauritius has become the gateway. Over the past two to three decades, the country has transformed itself from an economy once heavily dependent on sugar into one of Africa’s leading financial hubs. Mauritius got the formula right. They understood the importance of governance and the environment of doing business, and they came up with a strategy. They executed. They delivered. They were consistent. They were disciplined.

Shahed Hoolash

Managing Director & Partner, Vistra

Vistra is a global corporate service provider. We are present in over eighty countries with more than ten thousand people globally, from Australia and New Zealand all the way to Brazil. In Africa, we are present in Mauritius and South Africa, and we are looking at growing our presence across the continent. Mauritius has, for a long time, been a business partner for India, and over the last decade, we started looking at Africa as the next growth market. The resources are there, the population is there, and obviously, the growth is going to come from there. We see our role as helping to channel responsible and good capital into the continent. The ability to handhold and assist clients across jurisdictions and across multiple continents is the unique selling point for Vistra. We are present in eighty countries, so the access that we give global corporations is probably unique and unmatched. What we are good at is bringing global investors to investment opportunities and creating the frameworks and structures that allow companies to operate across markets.

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