Mauritius becomes the first country in the world offering a citizenship/passport against an investment in the country’s sovereign wealth fund. Mauritius is the most popular and wealthiest african tourist destination for its beaches, lagoons and reefs with 1.3 million tourists visited Mauritius in 2017 with 60% of them are Europeans.
Mauritius announced last week new citizenship by investment scheme offering citizenship to foreign investors who contribute a minimum of $500,000 or $1 million into the country’s sovereign fund, according to venturesafrica.com.
A Sovereign wealth fund (SWF) is pot of money derived from a country’s reserves, set aside for investment purposes to benefit the country’s economy and citizens. The funding for a sovereign wealth fund comes from central bank reserves that accumulate as a result of budget and trade surpluses and from revenue generated from the exports of natural resources.
The Mauritius Sovereign Fund will be managed by the Mauritius National Investment Authority.
The Economic Development Board (EDB) will manage two schemes to attract High Net Worth individuals who satisfy defined criteria and after due diligence.
Minimum InvestmentÂ
There are two investment schemes for high net worth investors with different ceiling
- Scheme 1: $500,000 non-refundable contribution to Sovereign fund. Additional $50,000 per family member.
- Scheme 2: $1 million non-refundable contribution to Sovereign fund . Additional $100,000 per family member.
The Passport Act will be amended to allow for a fee to be charged for issuing passports to high net-worth individuals.
Mauritian Passport
Mauritius passport is one the valuable passports in the world with visa free travel to either China, Russia or the Schengen Area. Mauritius passport is ranked as #28 powerful passport in the world with visa free access to 145 countries in the world, above St Lucia and Grenada in Henley 2018 Passport index.
Permanent resident
Mauritius also offers $500K permanent residence scheme for foreigners. Under this scheme, they invest $500k and live in the country for two years to naturalise as a citizen
Mauritius FDI Inflows
According to the latest statistics published by the Bank of Mauritius, FDI inflows into the Mauritian economy for period January to December 2017 witnessed an increase of  4.4 % as compared to the previous year.  FDI inflows to the tune of MUR 14.2 billion have been recorded for the four quarters of 2017 as compared to MUR 13.6 billion in 2016.
Real Estate
Real estate remains the most attractive sector and the main recipient of FDI to the tune of MUR 8.7 billion of which the Integrated Resort Scheme, Real Estate Scheme, Invest Hotel Scheme & Property Development Scheme accounted for MUR 5.7 billion. The financial services sector has attracted MUR 3.3 billion while the education sector recorded MUR 163 million of FDI inflows.
he Integrated Resort Scheme (IRS), the Real Estate Scheme (RES) and Property Development Scheme (PDS) are aimed at encouraging the acquisition of residential property in Mauritius by non-citizens.
As at end May 2018, total reserves amounted to Rs 222.0 billion, equivalent to some 10.7 months of imports. Some 1.3 million tourists visited Mauritius in 2017 with 60% of them are Europeans. Tourism earnings increased to Rs 60.3 billion in 2017
