Mauritius bets on tax perks to attract wealth managers, boost financial sector

Key topics:Mauritius to offer tax breaks to attract Swiss wealth managersTargeting Indian millennials to grow family office presenceAims to boost finance sector to $2.5bn and diversify from tourism.Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here.Support South Africa’s bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here.The auditorium doors will open for BNIC#2 on 10 September 2025 in Hermanus. For more information and tickets, click here..By Kamlesh Bhuckory.Mauritius is planning tax breaks and fewer bureaucratic hurdles to lure wealth managers from Switzerland and tap rich Indians looking to keep part of their assets outside the country.The island nation will also seek to attract professionals from Hong Kong, woo 10 overseas banks and set up 15 development financial institutions by 2030, the Ministry of Financial Services and Economic Planning said in a report published on Wednesday..Despite being home to pristine beaches and signature golf courses, Mauritius has struggled to attract family offices or wealth managers since it eased rules to lure the institutions in 2020. Finance accounted for about 13% of gross domestic product in 2024 and is key for Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam’s goal of diversifing the economy from tourism. “The financial services industry has stagnated, becoming a back-office for global entities,” said Sanjay Matadeen, a senior lecturer at Middlesex University Mauritius. “There is an urgency to attract top foreign fund managers for business in Mauritius. The implementation could be challenging in the beginning.”Mauritius — known for having one of the most competitive tax jurisdictions in the world — was also key for channeling investment into India. It lost the edge after the South Asian nation amended tax laws. The Indian financial hub of Gujarat International Finance Tec-City, or GIFT City, is also luring funds that would otherwise have flowed to Mauritius..Read more:.Inheritance tax in Mauritius: What investors need to know.“In order to remain relevant to Indian investors, Mauritius needs to rethink its India Strategy,” according to the report. “There is an increasing number of wealthy millennials in India who are looking to structure their family offices. This is a major opportunity, which Mauritius could tap into if we have a clear strategy how to target these high-net-worth millennials.”The government expects the measures to help boost the financial sectors contribution to the economy by about a third to $2.5 billion a year.“A key strategic objective for Mauritius is to establish itself as a premier hub for wealth management and family offices,” the ministry said.But that maybe a tough goal unless the government can also improve the quality of life, according to Matadeen. “Mauritius should also be able to provide the appropriate quality of life, public infrastructure,” he said. “That also matters.”.© 2025 Bloomberg L.P.

Mauritius bets on tax perks to attract wealth managers, boost financial sector

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