Mauritius has transformed from an agriculture-based economy into a leading financial hub | Photo: via CNBC Africa
Tuesday, February 10, 2026
By Content from a Brandcom partner via CNBC Africa
As global investors increasingly look toward Africa’s emerging markets, Mauritius is reaffirming its role as the continent’s preferred gateway for investments. This was the central theme of a CNBC Africa panel discussion held on October 23, 2025, titled “Leveraging the Mauritius International Financial Centre for Sustainable African Growth.”
Moderated by CNBC Africa’s Zanele Morrison, the discussion brought together key industry leaders from Mauritius and South Africa, including Bilal Adam, CEO of Stewards Investment Capital; Chele Moyo, Executive Vice President of Southern Africa at MCB Group; Antish Bissessur, Managing Director at Rogers Capital; Gareth Land, Head of Sales at 2Futures; and Janesh Chuttoo, Partner at Orison Legal.
Over the last three decades, Mauritius has transformed from an agriculture-based economy into a leading financial hub, one that now contributes over 13.4% of its GDP through financial and insurance activities. Recognized as Africa’s top-ranking IFC in the Global Financial Centre Index, Mauritius offers investors a stable, transparent and well-regulated environment, supported by Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements and bilateral investment treaties that provide secure access to key African markets.
A robust legal and regulatory framework
Panelists agreed that confidence and stability are the cornerstones of Mauritius’ success. Janesh Chuttoo (Orison Legal) highlighted the country’s democratic governance, hybrid legal system combining British common law and French civil law, and its strong rule of law, all reinforced by the fact that its highest court of appeal is the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in UK. This gives much more confidence to the investor that, if ever there is a dispute you know it will be treated in a fair, transparent, impartial and neutral manner.
He added: “Being based in Mauritius and also being an IFC there is the opportunity to actually leverage against those political or economic headwinds or whatever it is to be able to derisk investments and for example go into Africa or it might also be vice versa because we’ve seen investments from Africa going to into other countries. So, this is where you navigate it because you need a launchpad. You need a place which is safe and effective and where you know you have the rule of law and you know if ever things are going to go south you know you’re going to count on the system on the legal and regulatory system to make it right.”
The Mauritian law is modeled on the UNCITRAL Model Law, and the enforcement of foreign arbitral awards, which is very important for investors is based on the New York convention.
A proven platform for African investment and global capital
Regarding the kind of investments, investors or fund managers or businesses finding Mauritius as a perfect place to channel their wealth and their work, Chele Moyo (MCB) referred it as a mixed
bag of clients who are interested in the continent and interested in leveraging Mauritius to deploy capital across the continent. She added “I’d say multinationals both from a European, American perspective etc. deploying capital across the continent but also what we like to call large African corporates or large local corporates. So those are corporates particularly sitting in the Southern African region deploying capital across the continent. We’ve found that Mauritius provides a suitable platform for them to do that because of the depth of the financial markets.
Mauritius as the bridge between investment and opportunity
For Bilal Adam (Stewards Investment Capital), Mauritius’ role extends beyond being a conduit for foreign direct investment – it is a bridge between capital and opportunity. Mauritius provides the infrastructure for mobilizing capital from the continent into developed markets and also from developed markets back onto the continent,” he said.
Bilal Adam illustrated how investors from the U.S. or Europe can route large-scale funds through Mauritius to multiple African markets, leveraging its multi-currency environment and trusted banking system. “What we is often a large ticket investor from a from a US or European market that wants to mobilize $100 million but they want to send $10 million into Rwanda and 10 into Nigeria and 10 into South Africa and what happens is they would then use an investment in Mauritius, use the infrastructure, use the custody and banking services and hub that investment and use Mauritius as a platform to then implement and mobilize that capital for the growth and expansion of the continent through Mauritius as the enabler of that,” he explained.
Bilal Adam also highlighted the country’s long-established credibility and its reputation for trust and reliability in the banking system, which attracts many African investors, including South African pension funds that invest through Mauritius.
A mature ecosystem and tried-and-tested jurisdiction
Mauritius’ strength lies in its mature financial ecosystem, built over three decades of continuous evolution. The country has a resilient banking sector, world-class fiduciary service providers, lawyers, auditors, asset managers, wealth managers and regulators who engage constructively with the industry, representing the value proposition of Mauritius as an IFC to the investor community.
Antish Bissessur (Rogers Capital) said: “We are a tried and tested jurisdiction; we’ve been in the making for more than 30 years, because we still have the ambition to improve our value proposition. To suggest that you’re an IFC, you need to have a sophisticated financial services sector, which in Mauritius is quite mature; you’ve got a resilient banking sector. We’ve got 19 banks.”
Mauritius, the rising wealth hub in Africa
According to the latest Henley & Partners Wealth Report, Mauritius is now home to approximately 5,000 millionaires (in USD terms) and around 15 centi-millionaires – individuals with a net worth exceeding USD 100 million.
Antish Bissessur (Rogers Capital) highlighted “We’ve got really an influx of millionaires and they’re coming in not just for the lifestyle and for the other reasons we’ve mentioned but for the overall ecosystem that the country is being able to provide and they are not just there to retire but also to do business, keep on doing business from where they are in Mauritius, keep their activities in Africa structure in Mauritius and do business from the country. So, we’ve seen a lot of traction over the past 10 years I think we’ve grown 87% in terms of that number over the past 10 years.
The rise of impact investing
Another theme throughout the discussion was social impact. Bilal Adam (Stewards Investment Capital) emphasized that investors today demand more than returns, they seek impact. He also highlighted Stewards’ focus on sectors such as telecommunications, which enable information inclusion, a vital component of financial inclusion across Africa. “Mauritius is a platform to bring a lot of investment onto the continent especially for infrastructure – the telecom industry – where we enable people to have access to information and that gives them the opportunity to benefit from being connected to the world,” Bilal explained.
Additionally, Janesh Chuttoo (Orison Legal) highlighted “On the aspect of the AU agenda 2063 objective which is aligned on United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, Mauritius is really acting as the conveyor belt or the conduit regarding investments.” He shared case studies where he has assisted clients who have invested in investment funds to go into other African countries across the continent for projects with a development impact, for example, the assembly of electric scooters in Zimbabwe and the distribution of water across Africa – projects with a social impact where those funds are being channeled through Mauritius and then being diverted to Africa.
Trade, demographics, and the African growth story
From a macroeconomic perspective, Mauritius’ position is reinforced by Africa’s demographic dividend. With an expected 2.4 billion people by 2050, 75% under the age of 35, the continent’s youthful population is driving consumption and innovation.
Chele Moyo (MCB) observed that this demographic surge represents a rise in household consumption opportunity, dispelling the myth of a ‘poor continent.’ She added: “We have a lot of young people. When you’ve got that kind of young population, you’re going to start to see a rise in in demand for consumer goods. We are expecting to see household consumption rise to about $2.2 trillion. So, from a trade perspective, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is a definitely a step in the right direction.”
Collaboration between African institutions, banks and international institutions
There are 450 global investment funds, and since 2010, funds domiciled in Mauritius have channeled more than USD 80 billion into the continent. Most multilateral institutions which are present in Mauritius such as the World Bank, International Finance Corporation (IFC) and they use Mauritius to derisk investments that they are investing into Africa
The presence of major development finance institutions (DFIs) such as Proparco, Fin Fund, Swedish Fund, CAD Fund, China Africa Development Fund that have their holdings or holding companies in Mauritius and they are all using the country as a launchpad for African investment with a social impact.
Thriving on private equity and private credit
Bilal Adam (Stewards Investment Capital) notes that this is an opportune moment in investment history. Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, highlighted a shift in the traditional 60/40 portfolio of equities and bonds – one that now includes a 20% allocation to private equity. That 20% allocation of private equity presents a unique opportunity for the African continent. Currently, South Africa has the continent’s deepest listed capital markets. While several other African countries also have listed equities, the trading isn’t as liquid as Johannesburg’s.
Bilal Adam added: “The continent is a place that thrives on private equity and private credit, and with Larry Fink leading this charge that global investment should now include a 20% allocation to private equity and private credit. This is a huge opportunity for us on the continent and Mauritius sees this as a fantastic opportunity to bring in capital which we can then deploy for the expansion and growth of our continent.”
A hub for innovation and the Fintech future
Looking ahead, Mauritius is preparing for its next economic leap: fintech. This evolution is a natural progression following the island’s successful transitions from agriculture to manufacturing, hospitality, and financial services. Mauritius has created an ecosystem that attracts fintech service providers – from crowdfunding and peer-to-peer lending platforms to digital asset companies.
Janesh Chuttoo (Orison Legal) explained: “Mauritius comes with a robust regulatory framework where everything is well regulated including the protection of borrowers and the protection of investors. If an investor comes in and cannot find his satisfaction within the existing licenses, there is something very flexible called the Regulatory Sandbox License. Basically, it allows you to go ahead and carry out your project, and then the regulator will step in to apply the necessary rules around it to properly regulate that business. This ensures that when you are both flexible and robust enough especially when expanding into Africa you have the adaptability required, supported by a jurisdiction that is both a leading financial center in Africa and a white-listed jurisdiction.”
Bilal Adam (Stewards Investment Capital) added: “With its legal infrastructure, talent pool, and lifestyle, Mauritius has all the ingredients to become the Silicon Valley of Africa.” He noted that Mauritius was among the first African countries to legislate for virtual assets and digital assets, incubated through the Regulatory Sandbox License.
ESG: Catering for the unbanked from the Mauritius IFC
Chele Moyo (MCB) put forward the ESG perspective. From an African perspective, she mentions the S is really and the G is you know particularly important. Leaning towards the AU agenda 2063 objective, looking forward, you’ve got from a from an ‘E’ perspective, you’ve got about some 600 million Africans without access to electricity. But then at the same time, there are the social challenges around that.
Chele Moyo presented the ESG perspective, emphasizing that from an African standpoint, the ‘S’ (social) and ‘G’ (governance) dimensions are particularly significant. She aligned her points with the African Union’s Agenda 2063 objectives, noting that while environmental concerns remain vital with an estimated 600 million Africans still lacking access to electricity, there are also significant social challenges intertwined with this issue.
She added: “When we looking at private equity funds, corporates, we’re looking at the ways in which they’re doing business, the ways in which they have impact on different communities to address the social aspect of ESG, the governance aspects of their business to cover the G aspect of ESG, and obviously supporting the just transition and we’re looking at cleaner sources of energy and how they’re operating in that particular space.”
Property and lifestyle: a winning combination
Mauritius offers a unique lifestyle advantage that attracts talent and investors alike. Gareth Land (2Futures) described it as “a total cultural melting pot” with safety, community and high living standards. He added that the local population is also benefitting, with rising home ownership among Mauritians. In the last 10 years, the upliftment for the local Mauritians has basically doubled and tripled. In the last five years, Mauritian homebuyers have increased to 11%, up from just 4% three years ago; so, more money is flowing into the hands of local Mauritians.
Gareth Land highlighted: “Property-wise because it’s not bricks and mortar, it’s lifestyle. It becomes demand-driven because we’ve got amazing golf courses, diving centers, top class kite surfing and outdoor lifestyle in Mauritius. This keeps the property market going because there’s always a demand when you want to say I want to go and retire somewhere else, or I need to move somewhere else.”
Furthermore, the government’s forward-thinking policies such as residency for investors and retirees reinforce the country’s appeal as both an investment and lifestyle destination.
*The editorial staff of CNBC Africa had no role in the creation of this content.
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