Mauritius Background..

Independent since 1968, Mauritius is a successful democracy and one of Sub-Saharan Africa’s strongest economies. Navin Ramgoolam of the Mauritius Labour Party has been prime minister since 2005. Mauritius has a well-developed legal and commercial infrastructure and a tradition of entrepreneurship and representative government. It also has one of the region’s highest per capita incomes. The government is trying to modernize the sugar and textile industries while promoting diversification into such areas as information and communications technology, financial and business services, seafood processing and exports, and free trade zones. Agriculture and industry are less important than they were, and services, especially tourism, are now the economic mainstay. The government still owns utilities and controls imports of rice, flour, petroleum products, and cement. Mauritius has made maritime security a priority and in 2012 signed a deal with Britain’s Royal Navy for the transfer of suspected pirates captured by Britain to Mauritius for prosecution.