Paul Hinks: “The momentum has already started for Mauritius”

There is a window of opportunity for American investors not only in the Mauritian financial sector but also in tourism, renewal energy, and information technology, observes the Chairman of Corporate Council on Africa.

BUSINESSMAG. Fifteen years have elapsed since a US trade mission came to Mauritius. What are the objectives of your visit here?

We have two objectives, one short term and the other long term. The short term objective is to allow the delegation members to have a look at the opportunities in Mauritius. The long term objective concerns the Corporate Council on Africa, of which I am the Chairman. We are here to learn to about Mauritius.

There is a buzz going around in Washington and frankly around the US and Europe that Mauritius is now the hub for transacting your business and resources into Africa.

Many countries as you aware, through financial services, are registering their firms in Mauritius and transacting business in other African countries from this base. So we are very interested to learn more about this angle. More particularly, what are the business opportunities Mauritius offers so that we can go back to the US and write reports about it to circulate to our members? We are the largest organization of this type in our country and we want to go back and report about the opportunities here. This in turn will cover a much broader group of people who will be potentially interested in doing business from Mauritius for their other businesses in Africa. These are our two direct objectives.

BUSINESSMAG. Based on what you’ve seen so far, where do the opportunities lie?

Clearly, they are in the financial services. Mauritius is setting itself up in the financial services arena. Opportunities certainly exist in renewable energy and you have interesting policies energy-wise.

We are aware that Mauritius has pretty much been the leader in biomass technology from sugarcane. I think that there are opportunities in tourism as well, since you have only one US hotel organization here, which is Holiday Inn.

I imagine there are huge opportunities for investors in the tourism business and in information technology as well. There is a lot we will be able to take back with us and I believe that we can achieve something.

BUSINESSMAG. How would you assess the business laws prevailing in Mauritius?

We do not know much about the local business laws as we have not studied them yet. However, everything we are being told about the business law here compares favourably to those of many other African countries.

BUSINESSMAG. This trade mission also visited Mozambique and Madagascar. How can Mauritius be a key player in the regional strategy of the US in Africa and the Indian Ocean region?

The progress made in the financial services sector is a great advantage, in particular the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements (DTAA) you have with several countries. The momentum has already started for Mauritius.

Some people remark that Mauritius has missed the boat. You haven’t missed the boat because there is a buzz going on about you. A registered company in the old days would go to the British Virgin Islands (BVI) to be incorporated there. No one wants to be a BVI company anymore. When people talk about Africa in particular, they go to Mauritius if they want to be a registered offshore entity. Some government agencies and banks would actually prefer a Mauritius entity to a BVI one.

So, Mauritius has already acquired some recognition for this type of services. The country is going to do very well. What is already happening is that we will see businesses being head-quartered and have staff here to do business. I think there is also a real opportunity for countries such as Madagascar as well.

I have noticed a lot of similarities between Madagascar and Mauritius. I have also heard a lot of Mauritian government officials talk about it often. Mauritius is one end of the curve and Madagascar is another.