Closer to Africa with CNBC Africa

Mauritius improves its visibility among investors with the opening of a local bureau of CNBC Africa, part of the ABN 360 Group. The broadcaster produces programs that specialize in economic and financial news and will be broadcast on the DSTV network. Negotiations are underway for CNBC Africa to be accessible as part of a bouquet of channels on MyT (Mauritius Telecom). The partnership is between the Board of Investment and Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation and CNBC Africa. While in Mauritius, Rakesh Wahi, Chairman of CMA Investment Holdings and co-founder of CNBC Africa, said he envisages other projects in Mauritius. He cites the possibility of organizing the Forbes Africa, Person of the Year in Mauritius. “A foreign investor seeks principally political stability, the permanence of the state and consistency in macroeconomic policies. Mauritius combines these elements and is a very affordable country”, says Rakesh Wahi.

Commenting on the performance of the Mauritian economy, Rakesh Wahi qualifies growth of 3.3% annually in 2012, at a time when the global economy faltered by the waves of recession on European continent. However, Rakesh Wahi said, “Mauritius has had respectable economic performance in 2012”, albeit growth well below the average for emerging countries on the African continent. The reason is that Mauritius is primarily a service-based economy, observes Rakesh Wahi. “The economy depends mainly on tourism and financial services that come from international markets. Therefore, you are directly influenced by the overall situation. The solution in this case would be to strengthen the internal economy”. Rakesh Wahi emphasizes that the five components of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), which are considered emerging powers, are successful examples of strong internal economies. Most companies in India, for example, depend on the local market, regardless of the broader economic environment, “he argues. But Mauritius has assets that in its favour and give it an economic advantage over their African counterparts, says Rakesh Wahi. The most important thing is the progress made to towards development.

by Himanshu Marchurchand

Translation by Google Translate