Over the past few decades Mauritius’ traditional growth model, one based on textiles, tourism and the sugar industry, has served it well. Together with strong ties to continental Europe, this economic foundation produced enviable gross domestic product (GDP) growth rates until the early 2000s. Yet, as the global economy has changed, so too have the prospects for Mauritius’ economic growth. The financial crisis, ongoing challenges in the eurozone and global competition in the textile and sugar industries are weighing heavily on the country’s economic outlook.
As such, political and economic change is afoot in the country. On the political front, the landslide victory of Anerood Jugnauth, an octogenarian veteran of Mauritius’s political scene, in the December 2014 general election came as a surprise to most observers of the country’s politics. Mr Jugnauth and his Alliance Lepep coalition defied the opinion polls to sweep aside an incumbent administration that held power for the best part of a decade.