By Sandeep Chagger, Group COO of Peach Payments, and Uways Kureeman, Country Manager and Director of Peach Payments Mauritius
Sandeep Chagger and Uways Kureeman of Peach Payments Mauritius explain how the Mauritius International Financial Centre (IFC) is swiftly becoming a pivotal hub for global and regional companies seeking to optimise online payment acceptance and centralise treasury operations, especially in the context of cross-border ecommerce and digital trade.
Through their set-up in the Mauritius International Financial Centre (IFC), global and regional companies can accept online payments from customers worldwide, designating Mauritius as their global or regional billing centre. Funds collected in multiple currencies can be consolidated within the Mauritian entity, enabling efficient and centralised management of both regional and global treasury operations.
The Global Treasury Survey 2025 by PwC shows that treasurers are adapting to an increasingly complex environment shaped by economic volatility, uncertainty in interest rates and inflation, regulatory shifts and a resurgence in global trade tensions.
Hence, such companies need access to a jurisdiction that promises them political and economic stability, ease of capital controls, multi-currency conversions, tax treaties with multiple jurisdictions, robust governance frameworks, as well as a fertile FinTech ecosystem to receive funds and make payments.
Companies benefit from Mauritius’ ease of exchange controls, allowing seamless movement of capital and liquidity management to fund subsidiaries and operations across different countries. This flexibility streamlines cross-border transactions and treasury functions for international businesses.
Why multinational firms are selecting Mauritius for global treasury activities
Political and economic stability: As an enduring democracy, Mauritius continues to be a regional leader when it comes to political stability, ranked first in education and second in overall governance in the 2024 Ibrahim Index of African Governance. Further, the OECD Review of December 2024 notes that Mauritius’ economy continues to grow strongly, with real GDP projected to rise by 6.1% in 2024, 5% in 2025 and 4% in 2026.
Multi-currency facilities: Mauritius allows businesses and funds to operate multi-currency bank accounts and businesses can collect online payments in multiple currencies, including MUR, USD, EUR, GBP, ZAR, JPY, AED, CAD, CHF, AUD, HKD and SGD.
Free capital conversion: Mauritius imposes no foreign exchange controls. Capital, profits and dividends can be freely repatriated in and out of the country.
Wide DTAA and IPPA network: Mauritius has Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements (DTAAs) in place with 45 countries and offers Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements (IPPAs) with 25 countries.
Incentives under the GTA licence: Another key factor propelling companies to turn to the Mauritius International Financial Centre (IFC) as their global treasury headquarters is the Global Treasury Activities (GTA) licence. The licence incentivises multinational companies to set up or relocate their regional treasury management functions to Mauritius with a variety of attractive tax exemptions, including a five-year tax holiday.
Incentives under the e-commerce scheme: In addition to the GTA regime, other schemes also serve to attract companies to move their treasury operations to Mauritius, especially in the context of cross-border e-commerce and digital trade. In particular, the e-commerce scheme offered by the Economic Development Board offers attractive incentives such as a five-year tax holiday for companies that establish and operate their e-commerce platforms from Mauritius.
How Mauritius is creating the right ecosystem for FinTech firms to flourish
With FinTech players setting up their operations in Mauritius, global and regional companies can access best-in-class payment gateways to not only pool funds but also make payments from Mauritius.
In turn, these FinTech firms are seeing an opportunity to set up operations in Mauritius and to strategically position the IFC to global corporations so they can access Mauritius as a hub for making payments into the fast-growing economies on the African continent, leveraging on the reputation that the IFC has already created.
Indeed, in the last few months, a slew of developments have helped Mauritius to boost its appeal to FinTech firms. First, the government’s new ICT blueprint, unveiled on 26 May, places emphasis on businesses going digital, scaling startup ecosystems and enabling public-private-people innovation through data-driven policy formulation and data exchange by leveraging the Freedom of Information.
Furthermore, the Strategy Report 2025-2030 launched by the Ministry of Financial Services and Economic Planning on 09 July expressly notes that the IFC will diversify and modernise the financial product offering, by supporting the development of FinTech, sustainable finance, wealth management, family offices, and capital markets.
No wonder many FinTech firms are heeding the clarion call to make a long-term commitment, invest in the country, employ a local workforce and immerse themselves into the growing African FinTech space from Mauritius.
Sectors and geographies of focus
Based on our experience at Peach Payments, be it hospitality players, investment dealers, insurance brokers, retail merchants or e-commerce companies, the sector spectrum of the global treasury regime is wide and straddles both traditional and emerging industries.
In terms of geographies, South Africa, the United States of America, and Dubai are the top three areas in the global footprint of companies working with us for payment acceptance in Mauritius. In addition, we are also seeing growing interest from the Eastern European market, as countries experience currency volatility in light of the conflicts going on in the region.
How Mauritius can reap the benefits
By attracting more global business companies to pool funds and make payments by leveraging the best-in-class payment gateways present here, the Mauritius IFC stands to reap the following benefits:
Enhanced forex reserves: By encouraging global and regional players to make Mauritius their online payment acceptance, billing and treasury centre, Mauritius will hold an increasing level of forex reserves, ensuring a stable exchange rate. Under the e-commerce scheme, for instance, companies need to invest a minimum of 5 million rupees and incur a minimum annual expenditure of 10 million rupees, leading directly to investment inflows into the economy. Similarly, under the GTA scheme, companies need to incur a minimum annual expenditure of 2 million rupees.
Greater job creation: The increased presence of global treasury centres in Mauritius also translates into an increase in the employment avenues available to residents. Under the e-commerce scheme, for instance, operators must recruit a minimum of 10 local staff in Mauritius, including 2 at senior management level. Likewise, under the GTA scheme, companies must employ at least four professionals, including one in a managerial capacity.
Deepening wallet share: The wallet share of multinational entities in Mauritius would increase in response to their ability to leverage secure, multi-currency payment gateways for pooling funds and making payments from the island economy.
Higher traction: The IFC can create more traction with clients by offering a complete suite of services, from account opening to liquidity management, under the same umbrella.
Ultimately, the onus lies on public sector authorities to create the right visibility at the relevant forums for the best-in-class regulatory regime, and on private sector operators – from management companies to FinTech firms – to work together to create a seamless experience for the global investor. As Mauritius strives to create an unparalleled ecosystem for global treasury centres, including the integration of the Mauritius Central Automated Switch (MauCAS) with India’s Unified Payments Interface in February last year, followed by the official launch of the RMB clearing facility with the Bank of China in June this year, international investors clearly stand to benefit from the sheer reach and strength of its international payment systems.
This article first appeared in the October edition of Mauritius Finance. Read here for more articles on the Mauritius IFC.
