By Yvonne Chideme
The Republic of Mauritius has a population of 1.1 million people and covers 1,860 square kilometres. Its main languages are English, French, Creole, Hindi, Urdu and Bhoipuri. Mauritians have their origins on three continents: Europe, Asia and Africa.
The state became a republic on 12 March 1992. The Prime Minister, Anerood Jugnauth, heads the four-party coalition government comprising his party, the Socialist Mauritian Movement (SMM), Mauritian Militant Movement (MMM), Democratic Workers’ Movement (DWM) and the Organisation of the Rodrigian People (ORP).
Prime Minister Jugnauth attende4· the last meeting of the Southern African Development Community
(SADC) when Mauritius was accepted as the 12th member. He told his colleagues that his country will bring to the Community its experiences as a thriving and dynamic economy.
“My countrymen have developed a well-deserved reputation for the successful management our national affairs. We can bring all this experience and expertise of our people as our contribution to our SADC partners,” said Jugnauth.
A former British colony, Mauritius has a constitution written at the time of independence on 12 March
1968. The constitution established a multi-party democracy based largely on the British model. Power lies within the elected National Assembly, the supreme law-making body of the island. The assembly comprises of 62 elected representatives and the maximum parliamentary term is five years. Although several amendments have been made to the constitution since independence, the executive, legislative and judicial power bases have remained almost unchanged.
The last elections were held in September 1991 (national) and October 1991 (local) and the next elections will be held in September 1996 and October 1996 respectively. France ruled the island until 1810 when they lost to the British during the Anglo-French War. The campaign for the transfer of political power to Mauritians was spearheaded by the Labour Movement in the late 1940s. Negotiations for political autonomy, led by Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam during the 1960s, led to the island’s independence.
Mauritius does not have an army. A Special Mobile Force (SMF) was created after independence to assist the police in containing riots and controlling crowds. A defence agreement was signed with United Kingdom at independence, granting Britain the use of Mauritius for defence purposes in exchange for protection against external threat. This can be terminated by either side at a year’s notice.
Until recently Mauritius was to a large extent a monocrop economy, dominated by sugar production. Sugar cane still occupies over 90 percent of the arable area and accounts for about 70 percent of the contribution of the agricultural sector to Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Sugar also accounts for about 30 percent of export earnings.
Tourism brings in MR 3 billion (Z$1,3 billion) a year in export earnings, and is the country’s third largest earner of foreign currency. France and South Africa are the largest markets accounting for 28 percent and 19 percent of the total number of visitors respectively.
The island became one of the first countries in Africa to implement the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) sponsored economic structural adjustment programme in 1979.
During the 1976-1982 period, the Mauritian economy grew at an average annual rate of 2.6 percent. The country experienced balance of payments problems, growing debt and severe fiscal budget deficits, which increased from Mauritian Rupee (MR) 234million in 1978 to MR 1160 million in 1982.
The Mauritian rupee was devalued twice by 30 percent in 1979 and by 20 percent in 1981. The economic situation was worsened by political instability as the government had to take measures to restrict spending.
The year 1994 established a landmark in the financial landscape of Mauritius. For the first time, non- citizens were free to invest in shares traded on the Stock Exchange of Mauritius (SEM). The SEM is a new creation, although trading in shares has existed for a long time.
Over the same period, new funds have been launched by local promoters, providing individuals with a diversified investment choice. The Mauritius Fund was launched in 1993. It is the first investment company owned and controlled by non-citizens, which was allowed to invest freely in local shares. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange.
The economy grew in real terms by five percent during 1994. GDP growth was constrained by the poor performance of the sugar sector. Growth in the Export Processing Zone (EPZ) sector, slowed considerably to 4 percent in 1994, compared with 6 percent in 1992/3.
Mauritius is serviced by a well-developed network of local and foreign banks and a growing number of non-banking financial institutions. Both the government and the private sector borrow on a substantial scale on the foreign capital market, but the government has also been very successful in raising capital locally through the issue of bonds, stocks and securities.
The Bank of Mauritius, which started operations in August 1967, is the central bank. Commercial banks are major mobilisers of savings in the economy. There are 12 commercial banks, of which eight are foreign owned, with over 110 branches in the country. There also exists a well-developed network of other financial institutions and the three largest commercial banks are the State Commercial Bank, Barclays and the Mauritius Commercial Bank.
Education has been declared a basic right of every person in The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In Mauritius, a rate of over 80 percent of enrolments in basic education has been achieved in the past decade. Free primary and secondary services have been in place since 1976.
Mauritius has a good distribution of Health Care Services within easy reach of everyone. Primary Health Care Services are provided free of charge through a wide network of 26 Area Health Centres, 105 Community Health Centres and 16 Family Health Service Points.
Previously Mauritius used to export to Europe by-passing Africa, but the opening of six trade offices in Africa and its active participation in Common Market for Eastern and Southern African (COMESA) countries and the various buyers and sellers meetings are proof that the country is serious about regional cooperation and integration. (SARDC)
