The information and communications technology (ICT) sector has made giant strides in recent years. As Tassarajen Pillay Chedumbrum, Minister of ICT, explains, the sector became the third pillar of the Mauritian economy two years ago—in 2010, it contributed 4.8% to the GDP; today it contributes nearly 7%—and a new strategic plan will see the country become a communications hub in a matter of years.

“We want to make Mauritius the bestconnected country in the world,” Minister Chedumbrum says. “We are already starting to see free Internet in schools for our children and have introduced Internet into the post offices so that those without home access can use it. We have set up Wi-Fi zones in various district councils and municipalities and have reduced the tariffs significantly so that Internet costs are 1.3% of the average income of citizens. That is significantly less than the international goal of 5%.

“When people come to Mauritius, they know that they can mix business with pleasure. We challenge the concept that this is not possible. We have been declared better-connected than China, India or Russia, and we are the first in Africa, even ahead of South Africa. We have been promoting our BPO capacities internationally and have received a lot of interest.”

The excellent connectivity is all the more impressive given Mauritius’ location in the middle of the Indian Ocean. An underground cable connecting the country to Africa that went live last year has been largely responsible for this. One of the main proponents of this milliondollar revolution was Mauritius Telecom.

“We invested $79 million in the submarine cable system and are expecting to invest $40 million more in the system over the next three years,” CEO Sarat Dutt Lallah said at the forum. “We see more demand for bandwidth because of the sheer scale of data consumption. Today, everything depends on the Internet, for both the business community and everyday users.

“Our forecast for 2015 is already being consumed. Our investment in the cable system has proved to be crucial because usage and demand are growing and we have to provide more capacity.” Currimjee Jeewanjee & Co. Ltd. (CJ) is another active player in the field of ICT. Its entry into the sector in the 1980s, with the setting up of Emtel Ltd., marked a clear shift from traditional trading activities but was very much in line with CJ’s innovative and entrepreneurial culture. CJ continues to strengthen its position, and today the company is a key private-sector operator in the telecommunications field and is contributing to the drive to position Mauritius as regional leader in the technology field, in line with the government strategy for the sector.

Business Parks of Mauritius Ltd. (BPML), a government-owned infrastructure development company, was incorporated in March 2001 to spearhead the development of intelligent buildings and business parks in Mauritius. The creation of BPML was a key initiative of the government’s vision to transform the Mauritian economy into an innovation-driven one based on knowledge. The mission of BPML is to position Mauritius as a regional center of excellence for ICT outsourcing.

It is this innovative and entrepreneurial culture that sets Mauritius apart from other African countries. One of Mauritius’ most endearing commercial success stories is HM Rawat Group, an offshoot of a family business that has been trading in Mauritius for 120 years. Group Chairman and CEO Mohamad Ameen H. Rawat explains:

“My father, Hassam Moussa Rawat, pursuing the family tradition in commerce and trade, set up his own business back in 1959 and is the founder of what is today referred to as HM Rawat Group. It is his off-of-the-mainstream approach, his untraditional way of thinking and his vision of bringing the world to Mauritius that has led the HM Rawat Group, which is 100% self-financed and now owned by my brother M. Ali and myself, to what it is today. “We have always strived in actively participating in the advancement of the Mauritian economy and society. We do our best to make our beloved country, Mauritius, which is one of the few and rare places on earth nowadays where harmony between human beings is a reality and where people evolve in ‘peace, justice and liberty,’ to live by its national anthem and motto, ‘The Star and Key of the Indian Ocean.’”