Tucked off the east coast of Madagascar is the sunny little
island nation of Mauritius.
Insulated from the continent’s chaos by a 4 hour flight from
Johannesburg, Mauritius has achieved the transformation of their economy that
African nations can only dream about starting with much less natural endowment
than most countries on the continent.
From a standing start in 1968 the country has managed to not
only grow its economy almost 20-fold to its current $12.2b in 2016 according to
the World Bank. In 1976 – the earliest year for which the World Bank has
numbers, the country’s economy was listed at about $700m.
This may be half of Uganda’s economy but it caters for a
population of 1.3m or about 30 times smaller than our own. This is why the per
capita GDP of the island nation is at $9,627. In 1976 Mauritius per capita GDP
stood at $779 about where we are currently at $779.
During a recent study tour sponsored by UNDP, to investigate
how Mauritius has made it work.
Following meetings with officials at government
agencies and the private sector this mission came with a few ideas about how
they have achieved this under-reported miracle. Below are few but n ot all the
findings.
1. The independence constitution is not a copy and
paste of the Westminster model.
Mauritius was colonised by first the Dutch and then the
French and eventually the British. At the time of Independence while the island
population was divided mainly between the landowners and the labourers, they
negotiated a constitution over 23 years which took into account the country’s
unique immigrant population and a desire to equitably share the future spoils
of development.
"As a result while they retained the parliamentary system with an executive prime minister and titular head of state and have provisions for coalition governments they also included seats for underrepresented minorities who are nominated through A Best Loser System. They have also retained clear separation of powers between the executive and the arms of government...
The net result of this is while they have had 11 elections
and seven changes of governments since 1968 they have not suffered the
upheavals that characterised mainland Africa’s population over the last half
century.
2. There is strong partnership between the public
and private sectors
But Mauritius development could not have been underpinned by
the good nature of its key players over the years. Pragmatism and real politick
are more to blame.
The economy is dominated by handful of families who have
lived on the island for decades. These however are the minority, mostly of
French origin. The majority population are those of Indian descent who then
drive the politics. They have a symbiotic relationship with each providing a
counterweight to the other’s power.
"As a result the diversification and transformation of the economy from initially a mono-crop economy, where sugar accounted for easily 70 percent of the GDP to the current situation where they have diversified into textiles, light industry, tourism and financial services, and where sugar now accounts for less than one percent of GDP...
The development has been driven through negotiation between the
private and the public sector, the public sector’s interest being to create
jobs for its people and the business community’s desire to continue to remain
viable.
This partnership was important because with a population
that has remained steady around a million, a population that cannot support
huge industry, support was needed to break into foreign markets and attract
investment to the island.
More investment meant more jobs for the islanders –
officials claimed there was virtually full employment in Mauritius today, but
just as important the revenues from increased economic activity could be used
to finance an ambitious welfare system like no other on the continent. Education
and health services are free, and in addition the state provides a host of
social benefits that range from basic pension, unemployment benefits and
benefits for single parents.
3.
The welfare state is sacrosanct
Despite the huge cost the country’s welfare system places on
government revenues, it is now recognised as a right so much so that when
Mauritius needed to undergo some World Bank/IMF sponsored structural adjustment
in the 1980s the continuation of the system was non-negotiable.
"The island’s elite recognise the system is necessary to help smooth inequalities in income that may exist and also to forestall social instability that may result from these. Of course the welfare system is also a way for government to support industry by ensuring continuous demand for their products...
It is clear that the partnership between business and public
sectors is critical. If your bureaucrats look on the private sector with
suspicion or worse as a source of bribes. And if the private sector just the
technocrats as leeches and out of step with times and a happy middle ground is
not found, its near impossible for development to happen, even if a country
shows improving growth every year.
And it is this continuous give and take between the business
and government and politicians that can lead to improved welfare for the
general population.
However if the power relationship is lopsided as it is in
most Africa, with the government lording it over the business community and
they in turn looking to subvert government initiatives at every turn then the
result is the chaos, stagnation and even regression of the African continent
over the last half century.
