Mauritius inward FDI hits record MUR37 billion in 2023

The Bank of Mauritius published, on 26 April, preliminary estimates for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) for the year 2023, which amounted to a record MUR37 billion (USD 794.5 million) representing a year-on-year increase of 11% over 2022.

The 2023 figure will be further re-adjusted after the Bank of Mauritius has carried out the Foreign Assets and Liabilities Survey (FALS) to capture retained earnings. The estimates for 2022 was re-adjusted by an additional MUR6 billion following the FALS exercise.

The Bank of Mauritius said four key sectors – agro-industry, hospitality, real estate and Information and communication technology (ICT) – had underpinned performance in 2023, together representing 84% of the total.

While real estate has been a staple contributor over the past years, it said, the strong performance from the hospitality, ICT and agro-industry sectors was testament to government efforts to strengthen and diversify the economy, as well as the success of the Economic Development Board’s strategy of seeking to attract foreign talents and capital into Mauritius across various industries.

Analysis of the figures for the first three quarters of 2023 showed that real estate activities had risen by from MUR10 billion for the first three quarters of 2022 to MUR15.8 billion over the same period in 2023, of which the amounts attributed to the Integrated Resort Scheme (IRS), Real Estate Scheme (RES), Invest Hotel Scheme (HIS), Property Development Scheme (PDS) and Smart City Scheme (SCS) had increased from MUR7.5 billion to MUR10.2 billion.

Over the same periods, hospitality had more than doubled from MUR1.1billion in 2022 to MUR2.5 billion in 2023, ICT had almost quadrupled from MUR201 million to MUR804 million, professional, scientific and technical activities had almost doubled from MUR82 million to MUR160 million, and financial and insurance activities had quadrupled for MUR25 million to MUR102 million.

Gross direct investment flows in Mauritius were estimated at MUR23.10 billion for the first three quarters of 2023 compared to MUR18.2 billion for the corresponding period in 2022, mainly sourced from France and South Africa.

Foreign direct investment from France totalled MUR4.8 billion for the first three quarters of 2023, followed by MUR2.5 billion from South Africa, MUR1.4 billion from the United Arab Emirates, MUR1.2 billion from the UK, MUR763 million from India, MUR727 million from Germany, MUR531 from both the US and Belgium, and MUR 509 million from Switzerland.

The Mauritian government has created a positive environment for business and provides a range of investment incentives, which include:

• 100% foreign ownership and free repatriation of profits, dividends and capital.
• Tax-free dividends and no capital gains tax.
• Reduced corporate tax rate of 3% for companies engaged in global trading activities.
• Accelerated depreciation on the acquisition of plant, machinery and equipment.
• Customs duty exemptions for imported equipment.
•  Investment tax credit of 5% over three years on the cost of new plant and machinery.
• Five-year tax holiday for companies collaborating with the Mauritius Africa Fund for the development of infrastructure in Special Economic Zones.