Platform Africa joined forces with the Members Business Network (MBN) Mauritius to host a panel debate on “Investing in West Africa” on Thursday 14 March in Port Louis. The session sought to explore the vast potential of West Africa for Mauritian businesses and investors. A wide range of investment opportunities in Ghana were presented, from healthcare to energy and agriculture, and emphasis was placed on the importance of working out the right business model and structure to invest in the region. It was highlighted that Mauritius can play an increasing role as a bridge between Africa and Asia, with Ganessen Chinnapen stating that the Economic Development Board will host an Asia-Africa Investors Meet later this year, tentatively in September.
The event was held at The Docks in Port Louis, bringing together around 60 representatives of the financial, business and diplomatic communities from around the island, and was sponsored by M2A Business Consulting and AfrAsia Bank Ltd.
The panel was moderated by Manisha Dookhony, Chairperson of MINDEX, who led a panel composed of Beryl Agyeiwaa Lomotey, Minister Counsellor/Head of Chancery, Consulate-General of the Republic of Ghana; Ganessen Chinnapen, Consultant for Africa at the Economic Development Board; John Félicité, Business Development Director Africa, Ocorian and Sheik Mahamoodally, Group Finance Director of Orezone Drilling.
The session was opened by Jackie Demetriou, CEO of MBN Mauritius, who emphasised that West Africa is a region of tremendous potential and vibrant diversity. She explained that the debate would focus on how to harness the potential of West Africa from Mauritius, navigate the challenges, and make the most of the opportunities ahead.
As a sponsor of the event, Isabelle Francois, Deputy Head of Global Business at AfrAsia Bank Ltd, outlined how the bank could offer support to those interested in West Africa, in view of their ability to transact in several African currencies, and outlined their solutions in the area of corporate, global business and private banking, among others.
Exploring the economic and investment landscape in West Africa
Setting the scene for the debate, Manisha Dookhony, as the moderator, said that on recent visits to West Africa she had noted a lot of development in the region and that “when one country develops, others do as well”. She explained that she had witnessed the vibe of the people, who had adopted technology and were making payments digitally, and considered overall that “things were moving in a good way” in the West African region.
Commenting on the economic and investment outlook in Ghana, Beryl Agyeiwaa Lomotey, Minister Counsellor/Head of Chancery, Consulate-General of the Republic of Ghana, stated that Ghana was one of the best places to do business and that “we are the gateway to West Africa. We believe when your business flourishes, Ghana flourishes. We are working hand in hand with business people for our mutual benefit.” She explained that Ghana had further increased incentives, including tax holidays and economic zones for processing, industrial parks and technology parks. She underlined that Ghana is “the centre of the world” and is the second most peaceful country in Africa. She emphasised that “it is not a country where a change of government affects your business.”
Ganessen Chinnapen, Consultant for Africa at the Economic Development Board, highlighted that the volume of registered outbound investment in West Africa from Mauritius in 2023 amounted to USD 4 billion, and he noted that specific strategies had been developed in relation to Ghana, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Togo. He mentioned that Ivory Coast was the leading country for investment interest from Mauritius in 2023, amounting to USD 1.6 billion in outbound investment in sectors such as agriculture, seafood and food essentials. He noted that Mauritian market players such as Terra Group and IBL had “created a genuine Mauritian footprint in Ivory Coast”, while Grit Group was also investing in real estate. He explained that the EDB had “pipelines, projects and interests from prospective investors for these markets to have an expansion plan in West Africa”, while inbound investments into Mauritius, which include around 12 sovereign funds, showed “the importance and the credibility of the Mauritus IFC”.
Elaborating on the predicted impact of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), he stated that “we are leveraging on the potential of the AfCFTA which makes Mauritius an investment hub and a trade and investment hub for the Middle East, Asia and Africa”. He announced that the EDB will be holding a full exploratory discussion on the AfCFTA on 17 May, when members of the AfCFTA Secretariat would be present.
The contribution of Mauritius to long term investment and job creation
John Félicité, Business Development Director Africa, Ocorian, underlined the importance of promoting the fact that Mauritian companies are now investing in Africa. “That will change the way they will look at Mauritian firms and Mauritius, as we are not only using it as a platform but are actually putting skin in the game and making long term investments to create jobs on the ground in and across the continent,” he added.
On the issue of Double Tax Avoidance Agreements (DTAAs), John noted that these had diminished in importance, with 53% of all investments from Mauritius into Africa going into countries where there is no DTAA. “Whilst DTAAs are relevant, they are not as important as they used to be.” He saw that Mauritius was still being used as a platform or conduit for various reasons, such as setting up a structure in a neutral jurisdiction, for ease of doing business or for banking services such as trade finance, project finance or foreign exchange. From his own experience, John also shared that Mauritius is being used a source to find partners from other parts of the world.
Making the most of business opportunities in the region
Based on his experience in the region, Sheik Mahamoodally, Group Finance Director of Orezone Drilling, described West Africa as “a land of opportunities”, from mining to agriculture, FinTech, logistics and hotels. He stated that the choice for the investor would depend on the business model and which sector, which company and which currency the investor is more comfortable in, which might include those countries where the banks feel comfortable, like Senegal. “In reality, if you would invest one dollar what will the community get? That is what is most important. How will you protect the country? How will you contribute to the country, to its youth, to its progress in infrastructure or road development?” he asked. He gave the example of Orezone Drilling, in the mining industry, where the company is creating a school of drilling to encourage young people into that sector.
In terms of the upcoming elections in the region, Sheik saw that there were some industries which area directly affected by political changes, such as mining, and others which are not, such as agriculture. He considered that the fundamental question when investing in West Africa should be: “what are you ready to take as risk and where do you want to go in three to five years?” He also noted investing in West Africa could be achieved through a joint venture or finding a local partner, and that there would not necessarily be a need to “spend millions of dollars” to invest.
Other issues addressed in the discussion included emerging investment opportunities in Ghana in the healthcare, agricultural and energy sectors, the need to train youth in West Africa to help them develop production capacity, the importance of women entrepreneurs in taking risks in African economies and issues of business succession within African families in the light of returning diaspora.
Stepping up engagement between Mauritius and Africa
In terms of strengthening engagement between Mauritius and the African continent, Ganessen Chinnapen highlighted that the EDB was in full swing on its Africa strategy, having embarked upon four strategic roadmaps, for Southern, Western, Eastern and Northern Africa, where the work was underway. He explained that the EDB was in the process of setting up an African intelligence platform, as an online interactive platform, to share country, trade and market intelligence between Mauritius and Africa, which he described as “a key reference point for prospective inbound and outbound investors”.
In terms of upcoming events, Ganessen mentioned that the EDB would be facilitating a mission to South Africa in April to coincide with the AVCA conference, and an investment and trade promotion mission to West Africa, covering Ghana, Senegal, Togo and Ivory Coast, in August. For this year, rather than holding another Africa Partnership Conference, the EDB had decided to organise the Asia-Africa Investors Meet 2024, tentatively to be held in September. He highlighted that “the ultimate objective is to connect investors, investor groups and joint ventures to create the ecosystem for strategic alliances, or even public-private partnerships, for inbound and outbound investments”.
The event was closed by Samantha Seewoosurrun, co-founder of Platform Africa, who thanked the moderator and panellists for sharing their insights on how Mauritius is helping to foster growth and job creation in West Africa and also creating a bridge with Asia as a hub for investments. She also underlined the importance of recognising women entrepreneurs in Africa in having a vital role in building the continent’s economies.
