Economic Development Board Mauritius July 2018 Newsletter

In view of its membership to SADC, geographical proximity to the region amongst others, Mauritius acts as the gateway to the African Continent. Over the last decades, Mauritius and South Africa have strengthened their business ties and today South Africa has grown into an important trade and investment partner for Mauritius. Indeed, it has been observed that exports from Mauritius to South Africa escalated from MUR 3.2BN in 2010 to reach MUR 6.4 BN in 2017.. It is currently the third export market for apparel products from Mauritius just after USA and UK. It is also worth noting that Mauritian manufacturers are supplying leading retailers such as Woolworths, Truworths, Edgars, Edcon, Adidas and Puma among others.

From an investment perspective, Mauritius remains an attractive investment location for South African investors and entrepreneurs. A conducive business environment, political stability, a bilingual workforce, the quality of life are amongst the key contributors in making Mauritius the ideal location for the South African business community. In 2017, FDI from South Africa amounted to MUR 1,8 BN, and nearly 785 occupation permits were issued to South African nationals, with the majority of them being employed as professionals. An increasing interest by South African nationals to consider Mauritius as a potential manufacturing base in being noted.

With a view to further consolidating its market share and promoting investment as part of its trade and investment promotion strategy, the Economic Development Board- conducted a Promotion Mission in South Africa from 19th to 26th June 2018, targeting three major cities, namely Durban, Cape Town and Johannesburg.

The Trade and Investment Promotion Mission entailed the following:

• Business Forum and Buyers Sellers Meeting, Durban, 19 June 2018
• Participation in Source Africa International Apparel Fair, Cape Town, 20-21 June 2018
• Business Forum, Cape Town, 22 June 2018
• Business Forum and Buyers Sellers Meeting, Johannesburg, 25-26 June 2018
• The delegation was led by Mr. Arvind Radhakrishna and comprised the participation of around 26 local enterprises, representatives from Mauritius Freeport Development Ltd, Trade Park Mon Tresor and Airports of Mauritius Ltd.

The main objectives of the meetings and business forums were to showcase the investment opportunities in Mauritius, target high value-added manufacturing companies having a regional expansion and diversification strategy as well as position Mauritius as a sourcing destination for textile and apparels.

The Buyers and Sellers Meetings and the Business Forums provided a good opportunity to create better awareness about the trade and investment opportunities in Mauritius in the different sectors of activity. Contacts have been established with different chambers of commerce as well as potential investors. It is worth highlighting that more than 300 business people attended the business forums held in 3 cities. Moreover, the mission generated 30 strong leads.

Interest was shown by investors in a wide range of sectors of activity, namely in the setting up of a manufacturing knitted fabric plant, manufacturing of outdoor furniture, jewelry, digital printing, real estate, freeport and automotive industry.

The Mauritian trade delegation also participated in the ‘Source Africa’ fair held in Cape Town on 21 and 22 June 2018. Source Africa is the only apparel sourcing event on the African continent bringing together suppliers, manufacturers, service providers and buyers from the region under one roof. It is now owned by Messe Frankfurt which is the third largest trade fair company in the world with operations in over 50 countries and which is the global leader in textile and apparel fairs.

Source Africa 2018 attracted over 1,400 visitors over the two-day period. Participation in this event enabled Mauritian apparel operators to consolidate business relationships with several major South African apparel buyers such as Zando, Edcon, Edgars, TFG, Woolworths, Oliver, Cherry Melon, Pep Stores, Chilli Source, Kevro, Sissi Boy and Truworths International.

For the 2018 edition, Mauritius was selected as the “Official Country Partner”, which provided visibility in all communications of Source Africa fair. The collections of some Mauritian apparel factories namely Fine Textiles Ltd, Fit-U garment Ltd, Shivani Manufacturing Ltd and Tex Group were showcased by experienced models. B2B meetings were also held for the apparel operators during the event.

An aggressive follow up and investment facilitation will be carried out with the strong leads established with a view to enable the implementation of these projects. In view of the increasing interest demonstrated by the business community, the EDB through its Economic and Trade Office in South Africa will continue to engage with the business community.

Listen to Monique’s short video clip on the critical link between Tourism and the Creative Industry sector.

Creating jobs has become top priority nationally in view of South Africa’s 27.6% unemployment rate. In tackling this challenge, it is essential to remember that 60-80% of all new jobs are created by existing businesses, whom are also responsible for 70% local investment.  Moreover, actions that create an environment in which existing businesses can flourish will also benefit new businesses and attract the interest of outside investors.

Business Retention & Expansion in eThekwini

eThekwini Municipality has been active in the Business Retention & Expansion (BR&E) programme in a number of ways. The Municipality’s role in the Toyota expansion is a prime example as is its support for clustering initiatives and for catalytic infrastructure developments. Since 2005 Durban Investment Promotion has conducted six BR&E programmes in partnership with the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry, plus other localised Business bodies.

These have impacted on some 3,500 businesses using a locally driven process that surveys business needs and priorities while mobilising business and other local role-players to address them. A key lesson of the City’s Investment Promotion programme has been that the quality of the process plays a major part in determining the action that follows. Analysis of key issues in each area has been formalised and properly reported on for all to work on.

Common issues of concern to business revealed by these surveys in the past include crime and grime, skills shortages, heavy vehicle traffic congestion, waste and electricity supply problems and the need to improve how local business is organised.

At the Business Retention & Expansion event on Thursday 9 June, The Speaker of the eThekwini Municipality, Councillor Logie Naidoo and President of the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mr Zeph Ndlovu officiated and launched the BR&E Programme. Russell Curtis, HOD of Durban Investment Promotion outlined the importance of the BR&E Programme in retaining jobs and attracting investment.

Business was advised of the Go!Durban progress by Head of the eThekwini Transport Authority, Mr Thami Manyathi. Business opportunities surrounding the procurement of the transport components would further emerge in 2017/2018 once the transport network was operational. Dr Nuthan Maharaj, Senior Professional Planner in the Economic Development and Investment Promotion Unit of the eThekwini Municipality alerted business persons attending the Launch about the new Incentive Policy set to kick off on the 1st 1July 2016. A new One-Stop Shop would provide existing and new large investors to the City with support through the regulatory and infrastructure provision processes, plus would manage the incentive application procedure for the catalytic projects.

South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal and Durban is in the grip of a severe drought and Mr Bongani Hlophe, Community Liaison and Education in the Water and Sanitation highlighted the measures that both eThekwini and Umgeni Water would have to take if all communities were not vigilant about saving water. To round off the BR&E Launch, Miss Kathleen Hall, Legal Advisor of the eThekwini Municipality introduced the new Bylaws especially those relating to the BR&E Programme namely the Nuisance Bylaws in order to create safe and friendly public places and community environments.

Different BR&E approaches will be taken within New Germany. One of these is asking business about their concerns, ideas and opportunities. Through the eThekwini Municipality’s Durban Investment Promotion, this locally driven and implemented programme has been initiated by local partnership with the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry and supported by Trade and Investment KwaZulu-Natal.

The BR&E programme is managed by Task Team of local leaders including eThekwini Municipality’s BR&E Project Manager, Sibusiso Makhathini, Samala Morgan, DCCI Western Area Liaison Officer and Perusha Govender, Business Retention Officer, TIKZN. The day to day running of the programme will be led by BR&E Local Co-ordinator, Monique Labat in conjunction with associate Dumisani Ndlela. A survey of the businesses within New Germany will be conducted. Business will be asked about the pros and cons of doing business locally, obstacles to growth and ideas for growth. Action Teams on each of these will then be launched.

All participants will receive the results of the survey at the Feedback Session in August and priorities will be set so that local teams may implement subsequent actions. Click here to download the BR&E Survey Form.

For more information please contact BR&E Local Co-ordinator Monique Labat on Email: Monique@moniquelabat.com or Mobile: 082 924 6349.