I think it was Swaminathan S. Anklesaria-Aiyar who once described it as an "African Singapore". At independence in 1968, its only natural resource was sugar. But since then, the government has made the best of its human capital through liberal economic policies and pragmatic governance. As a newly independent nation, it resisted the natural temptation to nationalise its mainly French-owned sugar industry. And even back then, in the heyday of socialism, it actively wooed international capital, kept taxes, tariffs and physical controls at the minimum, encouraged entrepreneurship, and intelligently created export industries around the few competitive advantages it had.
Through the years, Mauritius has done some fancy economic footwork, moving up the value chain through sugar, garments, tourism, financial services (remember those famous FIIs of Mauritius?), IT and telecom. And now with the new EU regulations cutting the margins on sugar, it is slowly exiting that industry and looking at creative new alternatives. Like premium rums, for example: its Starr’s African Rum recently beat a number of great Caribbean rums to win a Gold at the International Cane Spirits Competition, and is being marketed in the clubs of California, using personalities like Leonardo de Caprio. Meanwhile, one picturesque old sugar mill has been turned into a restaurant-cum-art-gallery where well-heeled tourists can dine surrounded by impressionist paintings by Matisse’s last pupil, and a meal for two starts at $200 (wine not included). Now that’s what’s called value addition.
