About 2000 kilometers off the African continent’s southeast coast there is an island in the Indian Ocean called Mauritius. The island was under the French and Dutch rules beforehand but gained independence as a British colony only in 1968.
The Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth has expressed his encouragement in making Mauritius “the bridge between Africa and Asia”.
Pravind Kumar Jugnauth is the Prime Minister of Mauritius since 2017.
The people in the island are multireligious, multilingual, multicultural, and multiethnic. Their government is highly ranked for economic and political freedom as well as for their democracy since they are modeled on the Westminster parliamentary system.
Today, the Indian Ocean Island wants to become the new Singapore of Africa. The goal is to evolve the financial center from being a financial hub of Africa into an investment and trade center for international investors and globally competitive business industries that are looking for a base in Africa. It would be similar to the guidance that Singapore provided China when their economy opened up. The aim is to join the countries that are exclusively and are having an annual per capita of $12 000 and over. The Prime Minister expressed a desire for progress and has no absolute poverty. Ranked by the World Bank as the easiest country to do business, it stands out to be one of the few countries in Africa where there is still an investment-grade rating.
GDP of Mauritius is growing by the year.
The plans of Mauritius to dive into a more competitive market for progress and global businesses might be ambitious and difficult. The road to being the nest Singapore won’t be easy since there is a slower growth per capita due to the shift in investment from India. It was a downward change regarding the tax treaty between them. There are also issues considering political corruption and the infrastructure development but they are undeniably making a progress.
The Managing Director of Sovereign Trust in South Africa stated that Mauritius is facilitating expansion not only in Africa and in the rest of the world but they are already a highly attractive jurisdiction to do business with.
The French code and English law have been an inspiration to the commercial, civil, and criminal law. The banking regulator in the Bank of Mauritius is strong and ensures the acceptance of the litigation process and its outcome.
Funds generated by a Mauritian company can be easily withdrawn with prior approval from the Bank of Mauritius since there is no control in foreign exchange. The dividends are allowed to be declared abroad, holding the companies and shareholders without the local tax since Mauritius does not levy taxes when it comes to dividend distribution to the foreign owners.
Advantages from off-shore investment insights can be attributed to the two main corporate forms of Mauritius. As already stated, an existing holding or trading company can amend its tax base from an offshore entity to a tax resident company to access networks of double tax avoidance agreements. This is an advantage and useful to lessen Withholding Taxes from remitting states.
Major export destinations of Mauritius for the last 2 years
The offshore corporate structures are established legitimately and compliant with the laws of home tax residency jurisdiction. The banking system in Mauritius is efficient and the investors would have a choice of local and international banks with more than 20 options. The accounts can be opened in various currencies that include pound, dollar, euro and many other hard currencies which more than 100 accounting firms and professionals can audit on the island. Mauritius has held the title of being the World Bank’s “Ease of Doing Business Report in 2016 due to this infrastructure. It was held on the island for eight consecutive years.
The island has been noted to offer great options for the people wanting to gain residency. The government of Mauritius has developed various programs that are designed to specifically attract talents abroad, and knowledge on investment to attain the desired outcome of becoming one of the countries that have high- income economy.
The foreign Nationals that would like to work, live, and retire to the island can enjoy the area and everything that comes along with it, by securing Occupation Permit, a Permanent Residence Permit, or a Resident Permit. When approved, applicants are eligible to acquire property or multiple properties under conditions that are prescribed for them.
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