The Mauritian economy is among the most favorable in Sub-Saharan Africa, said the Executive Director representing Mauritius on the Board of the World Bank, Mr Agapito Mendes Dias from the small island state of Sao Tome and Principe.
He was speaking at a press conference yesterday afternoon in Port Louis where he highlighted the resilience of the Mauritian economy in the face of the global financial crisis. He further stated that the economy is on the right track and that the country should continue on that path to face the daunting challenges and the fierce competition on the global front.
According to him, the Mauritian economy is also a top performer in the list of the 22 Franco-African countries which he represents. They are namely: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Republic of Congo, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal and Togo.
Mr Agapito Mendes Dias is currently on a one-week official visit in Mauritius to better examine the Mauritian economy in the wake of the upcoming challenges. The outcome will eventually serve as purpose for the latter to understand further the Mauritian economy thus allowing the World Bank to provide more support to help the country maintain its economic performance.
It will be recalled that earlier yesterday the Executive Director also met the Acting Prime Minister, Vice-Prime Minister, Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Mr Xavier-Luc Duval, with whom he discussed about strengthening relations between the World Bank and Mauritius.
Other issues raised were how to gain a better understanding of the nature and type of support Mauritius needs from the World Bank and how Mauritius can help or be used as a model for other African countries.
In this context, several site visits have been organised to show case what an island state can do and explore how the Mauritian experience can be replicated namely in the Sao Tome and Principe.
Both parties also expressed interest to collaborate in various sectors among which Hydrocarbon and Deep Sea Mineral Mining sector; Social Protection; Inclusive growth, Labour and Inequality Assessment.
The World Bank has so far provided both financial and technical support to the Government of Mauritius in implementing various projects. They are among others: a loan of USD 50 million in 2009 for Mauritius Infrastructure project (MIP) relating to road projects and technical assistance and institutional development in transport, water, wastewater and energy sector; a grant of USD 1.7 million to support SIDS DOCK programme for preparation of Grid Code feed-in tariff and model energy supply purchase agreement for renewable energy systems greater than 50 KW.
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