At the opening of the second brainstorming session on the Africa Strategy of Mauritius this morning in Port Louis, the Minister of Land Transport and Light Rail, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, Mr Alan Ganoo, underlined that the process of devising an effective Africa Strategy is complex and multidimensional, thus the imperative to have as many insights as possible before deciding the way forward as well as to have a coordinated approach to prevent duplication of action and enable the optimal use of resources.
This second meeting followed the brainstorming session held on 2 June 2021 with the participation of representatives from the Directorates of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, the Economic Development Board, and the Mauritius Africa Fund, among others. The objective of this brainstorming initiative is to take stock of the progress achieved in the implementation of the Africa Strategy and decide whether and how to review it.
In the second brainstorming session chaired by Mr Ganoo this morning, Business Mauritius, the Mauritius Bankers Association Limited, the Regional Multidisciplinary Centre of Excellence, Straconsult ABDS (Africa Business Development Services) and Eclosia presented their proposals in the virtual presence of Mauritian diplomats posted in Egypt, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Mozambique, and South Africa.
In his opening remarks, Mr Ganoo stated that the review of the Africa Strategy is timely, given that Mauritius, in addition to existing challenges, is now faced with emerging issues relating to health, food security, youth unemployment as well as air, sea and digital connectivity following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. “It is essential that our Africa Strategy be revisited in such a way that it contributes to the swift economic recovery”, he said.
The Minister is of the view that the Africa Strategy could capture the opportunities arising from the African Continental Free Trade Area, the Mauritius-India Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement, and the Mauritius-China Free Trade Agreement. He added that the tasks were to determine and seek the opportunities in trade and investment; make an honest appraisal of the endeavours and established platforms such as the joint commissions and the special economic zones to see if they have yielded the awaited results; and focus on certain priority countries and reinforce bilateral relationships with them.
The proposals that came out of the first brainstorming session were also highlighted by Mr Ganoo. These are the need to increase imports and exports to Africa; to avail more efficiently of opportunities of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa; to enhance regional sea, air and digital connectivity; to position Mauritius as an international financial centre of repute in the region; to promote an education system that adapts to the post-COVID-19 challenges; to have more experts in regional and international organisations; and to play a more active role in various partnerships that exist with Africa so as to improve the visibility and image of Mauritius.
