This article is a translation an article published in French on 8 November 2018. There are, of course, slight changes but overall the situation is the same.

By constantly repeating that Mauritius is a world center of excellence (in almost all sectors), our people seems to have been seduced by their own words. Believing, in a quite simplistic manner, that the world is dying to come to Mauritius is a gross mistake. It is just a complete waste to spend money in roadshows and international events while we maintain our pretentious attitudes to those who finally decide to invest in Mauritius. The (abusive) use of words such as ‘center of excellence, ‘hub’, ‘world class’ has to stop until we realize that we are not to the level yet. There’s lots to be done, at all levels; private or public sector.  Civil servants should understand that private companies are not their enemies but their allies in promoting the island. The ultimate objective, when we open the doors to foreign investment is the creation of a national economic wealth, which includes the growth of local businesses and service providers. Any country opening its frontiers to foreigners does it with the objective to enhance the quality of life of its locals.

In Mauritius, the official website of an authority discourages foreign investors from using local consultants and professionals. If only that authority was competent in delivering its own services, it would somehow justify this piece of free advice.

The foreign investor landing on our soil is very quickly confronts a different reality to that he’s told of, in glossy paper magazines, online sites and official communications. Many have known unbearable frustration and left the island without turning their back.

The first real obstacle comes from organizations created to facilitate foreign investment and expertise. Many of their officers have clearly not understood the strategy of the government and the stakes on the table. The investor is first seen as a ‘suspect’ and, many a times, has to answer embarrassing and silly questions – from an Officer having no knowledge of the business world. Many officers believe that their job is limited to ticking boxes on a questionnaire. The career plan is simple : sitting behind a desk whole life and pretending to know everything. And when nepotism no longer surprises us, do not be surprised that uncle appointed his nephew / niece in an important role in a big governmental organization

An example :

A officer insisting arrogantly the disclosure of shareholders and directors in a Self-employed entity. I am an officer here; you pretend to know better?

The self-employed permit is for those in liberal professions (doctors, lawyers, consultants, etc.). This type of permit is specifically for those who do not require a special legal entity such as a company. The person is the enterprise. And when officers appointed to deal with such operations does not understand the basics… things will not be simple.

There are other authorities, operating with an stinking over-zealous attitude; sometimes just to hide their incompetence. They even impose rules that do not exist and go as far as challenging (behind their desks) the documents issued by other jurisdictions. In one case, I was scolded because official company documents from another country, in original, were not according to an officer’s taste. You cannot negotiate or give an explanation, you have to abide by the person’s mood of the day.

Many projects have been turned down, just like that. We shouldn’t be surprised if there’s no major developments in leisure sector, tourism, sports facilities and entertainment. These are mostly regulated by one authority, which is itself regulated by incompetency at its head. (this has changed now – remember this article was first published in 2018)

And you also have those officers claiming to have their own style. They have their own rules too. Will not hesitate in trespassing their boundaries with silly / stupid questions, request documents out their minds and make observations from another planet. You do not want to comply to his whims? Your project stays in his drawer. Superiority complex of the Alpha male (rarely female, I admit) at its best.

Such officers are present in every institution and seem to work completely the opposite of what the island wants to achieve, strangely against what the government wants to achieve. These people believe they hold the key to Mauritius; many showing a very sadistic approach while receiving a visitor at their desk.

I remember one immigration officer doing his worst to deny the foreign spouse of a Mauritian citizen the constitutional right of residency. That officer even asked Mauritian lady the reason behind marrying somebody of a different religion.

This attitude is what we need to get rid of. Only then we can pretend to walk towards excellence. We are not a buzzing city of Europe or America; we are a lonely and tiny island, lost amidst the ocean – but we are pretentious.  We have no natural resources, not even a domestic market which can sustain the economy on its own. We tend to believe that we have a brilliant future (like a super ambitious teen, full of pimples) but we’re doing nothing to reach that expected brilliance.

Unfortunately, this cancer is not only rotting the public sector, but the private operators are also affected too. On the first rank is banks. After numerous scandals, and our black / grey ranking, these banks have become a deterrent to investment opportunities. They have played it big time with big shots, and the ones to experience difficulties are genuine investors. Allow anything between 4-6 weeks to get a bank account opened, while you only have 120 days (maximum) in a year on a business visa. To complete within that 120 days : company registration, opening of bank account, transfer of investment (minimum USD50,000 for an investor permit) and application for trade / operational licenses. Anticipate request for documents which are not listed on official documents and guidelines.

At this stage, we are not even talking about the technicalities of the project : presence of qualified manpower, recruitment, finance, premises, market & feasibility studies, etc. Mission impossible: come back next year to complete the set-up. And we are still being pretentious…

Professionals, those with experience and competence, have a wider perspective and are able to understand the different elements behind an investment or a relocation project. They are, unfortunately, very seldomly consulted to work out the appropriate strategy and its implementation. As long as officers sitting behind the desk will play their Pasha role, we cannot pretend to reach excellence in any area where we have such claims. The failure of the word hub is clear… it has been used so many times unsuccessfully. After ‘Knowledge hub’, ‘IT hub’, ‘Seafood hub’, ‘FinTech hub’ I’m waiting for a new buzz word to appear soon.

We’ll be happy to hear from you, if you identify yourself with any of the above.

http://www.gibsonandhills.com