Premises and promises are two different words that sound quite similar but very different in meaning. Premises are assumptions behind the budget while promises are what the budget proposes to do.
Where will the next rupee of growth come from?
It will not come from the old playbook. Foreign investment is down. Local capital is cautious. Yet our import bill keeps climbing. The country is importing 3 times more in value than the goods it exports. The previous budgets (since many years) made promises based on assumption – (Helicopter money, CSG, MIC dismantling of proven scheme like NPF accumulation of non-performing loans to cronies, organic farming, macadamia nuts, uncalculated land development and unbearable annual increase in basic retirement pension among others) that the aftermath is already testing.
In the new government budget, promises were made on failed premises as a consequence of economic mismanagement of the former government. The aftermath is now showing that we need new premises to make new promises credible. Otherwise we’ll keep importing growth as it had been happening since the past many years, instead of creating it. We budgeted for growth but we got imports. The budgets promised projects. The market delivered rising prices and abandoned cane fields a productive vehicle for growth.
On 1st January 2026 the Prime Minister rang the alarm bell in his New Year message. He said that the economic situation is of great concern and that we urgently need to find new poles of economic growth. 6 months later has the appeal been heard, especially from the state funded institutions? There is no indication of it. Weak premises make promises impossible to keep. Consequently, the aftermath is where everybody pays for it. Walk into any hardware store, pharmacy or supermarkets and you feel it. The aftermath of the previous budgets is not in the tables; it is in receipts.
Government makes policies and takes decisions. The implementation of those lies in the hands and efforts of civil servants, state funded parastatals and development agencies. Government is a system which comprises everybody including executives, local authorities, civil servants, state funded parastatals, universities and the population at large including those at grass root level. It takes all to run a Nation.
Old engines cannot carry the full load anymore. Tourism, finance, uncalculated Integrated Resort Schemes and gated communities/smart cities on prime agricultural lands and manufacturing can no longer carry the load alone. At this juncture, Mauritius should name, fund and fight for new poles of economic growth – and it needs to be done fast.
Proposed new poles of economic growth
Option 1: Visionary
The first new pole must be agro-industry – and specifically food and fruit production with maximum transformation potential and phyto-pharmaceutical. We import millions in herbal medicines, nutraceuticals and cosmetics while our land grows the raw materials. The opportunity is not just farming. It is extraction, formulation and clinical testing and export certification. Our universities already do research and it is at very advanced stage as per the papers and presentations made recently at the Mauritius Research and Innovation Council’s Research Week at University of Mauritius, Reduit.
Why does phyto-pharma work here?
- Agriculture – We have thousands of acres of abandoned farmlands since the past 12 years. Those lands can easily be converted into organic farms with high end produce. The world market demand for those products is above $40 billion. This figure is increasing annually and it is estimated to reach $400 billion in the next 15 years.
- The new generation of farmers is looking for produce which will bring in better and more remunerative returns.
- The plants can be grown in both open farm and protected farm.
University of Mauritius and University of Technology, amongst others, already have research and need transfer technology. In fact, calling them store houses for potential business and poles of economic growth will not be termed as exaggeration.
Development Gap or missing gap is from lab to factory and to export entrepreneurship.
The next Mauritian export may not come from a container port. It may come from a laboratory of University of Mauritius, Food and Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (FAREI) in Reduit and Wooton and packed or bottled in a farm in the south or any other region in Mauritius. Saffron production, as shown on national television some time back, can also be on industrial scale as a possible opportunity. Pineapple, roselle and other tropical fruits could be included as per past experiences which could be built upon. Value-added sophisticated pickles, jams and other products could be produced in the bracket of Exotic Mauritian Foods.
Option 2: Challenge
We already grow the plants and we already do the research at FAREI and University of Mauritius. What we lack is a bridge to take the validated lab research to the market.
Option 3: Aftermath Tie-in
If we are serious about the new poles, let them start here: in our soils and research institutes and universities.
The Second Pole is Nation of entrepreneurs built in our universities and research institutes. Growth will never come from big projects alone. This has been proven by emerging giants like China and India. It will come from graduates who leave with a patent and company, not with just a degree. That means funding laboratories and government procurement for local phyto products. Treat campuses as factories for Start Up businesses and not only for certificates.
The test is simple. Can we replace imported supplements with Mauritian-made ones? Can we turn research papers into products on shelves? The Budget made promises. The aftermath now demands premises – and the courage to develop them.
A local entrepreneur and orchard in the north have already proved the concept with locally grown Moringa. Can we not do same with other locally produced crops?
Tourism can also be tied up with those poles or if separately, considerations for Cultural Tourism need to be considered as it would help spending money on other entrepreneurs.
