Mauritius and the ICT pillar

- Jason Benedict, RCE Strategist

One of the laments that I have had through the years is the incredible sluggishness with which many African countries have embraced information and communication technology (ICT). I have for several years envisioned the possibilities of a thriving business process outsourcing (BPO) business in Africa akin to that of India, especially for the Francophone countries of Africa. My thoughts have been that eventually, some enlightened leader in one of these countries will realize the tremendous pent-up opportunity they have, and take the steps needed to open the doors. My hope has been that once the process started other countries would see the potential and follow suit. Mauritius may be the pace setter in this scenario.

The government of Mauritius has launched on a bold plan to establish themselves as a “Cyber Island” by making ICT the 5^th pillar of their economy alongside the pillars of Sugar, Textiles, Tourism and Financial Services. Their hope is to establish this island nation as a strategic regional hub for ICT, BPO, and other information technology enabled services, thus attracting foreign direct investment for this and related sectors.

They are not blowing smoke. It appears that they are well on their way to making this vision a reality. They have IP protection legislation and have liberalized telecommunications. This is a bold move when so many African governments are reluctant to relinquish state owned cash cows. They have started a computer in every household initiative. Their ICT sector is growing at over 25% annually, and the marketplace is already populated with hundreds of firms including several major ICT players.

An opportunity that seems especially attractive to me is BPO and call center services for the Francophone world. Mauritius has a wonderfully bilingual workforce (French/English). With the high cost of employment in European Francophone countries, BPO in Mauritius is very attractive. I think this may be a situation where enterprising minds could find BAM and other Kingdom opportunities. JP lists them as having 6 peoples in the least reached category.

Jason is a contributing editor with Momentum Magazine. He serves as a missionary with Calvary International and works as a strategist with the Regent Center for Entrepreneurship in Virginia Beach. He has written a book on business as mission titled Eden Inc.