Portsmouth, United Kingdom/ 5th July 2022
The Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development of Mauritius, Dr The Honourable Renganaden Padayachy was recently conferred with the African Finance Minister of the Year Award during the 12th African Business Leadership Awards (ABLA) presentation ceremony, which was held as a highlight of the 7th Africa Summit – London 2022 at the House of Lords, United Kingdom. The award is in recognition of his achievements in improving his country’s regulatory, institutional, and good governance frameworks which have enhanced the growth of businesses and attracted investors to the country.
Organised by the African Leadership Magazine, the just-concluded Africa Summit and African Business Leadership Awards (ABLA) presentation ceremony, had keynote addresses by Lord Popat of Harrow, Member of the UK House of Lords and Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and Rwanda; and Dr The Honourable Padayachy.
The award further recognises Dr Padayachy’s firm belief that the fight against inequalities is key to achieving sustained long-term economic growth. As such, the Honourable Minister has dedicated his life’s work and career to promoting social justice and economic development in Mauritius.
Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development of Mauritius, Dr The Honourable Renganaden Padayachy
In his keynote address during the summit, Minister Padayachy shared some of his achievements and the commitment of the government of Mauritius to providing an enabling environment for businesses to thrive in the country. He noted that the conflict in Ukraine has brought in new concerns, which are notably that of imported inflation, due to rising commodity prices and freight costs worldwide.
However, “As Finance Minister, I am proud to say that in Mauritius, we have turned these challenges into a springboard to accelerate our pro-investment agenda. Mauritius is more than ever, committed to further facilitating business for investors by continuously improving its regulatory, institutional, and good governance frameworks”. He further added that “under the able leadership of our Prime Minister, Dr Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, the Mauritian Government has devoted itself to providing Clarity, Certainty and Consistency to investors in view of ensuring that Confidence remains.”
Dr Padayachy assumed office as Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development of Mauritius in 2019. Only a few months after his appointment, and in the context of the unforeseen Covid-19 pandemic, the Minister rolled out a historical Support Plan to mitigate the negative impact of the crisis both on the Mauritian Economy and the population. Representing 32% of the GDP of Mauritius, the Support Plan devised by Dr Padayachy was the world’s 4th largest response to the crisis according to the World Bank. It comprised unprecedently large and innovative measures such as the introduction of the Wage Assistance Scheme and the Self-Employed Assistance Scheme to finance for 22 months the wages of 542 000 workers out of a workforce of 600 000 people in Mauritius.
Under the leadership of Dr Padayachy, the Mauritian economy has fully recovered from the Covid-19 crisis. According to the latest IMFs’ 2022 forecasts, the Mauritian GDP will far exceed its pre-pandemic level, reaching Rs 520 billion in 2022, compared to Rs 465 billion in 2021, and the unemployment in the country will stand at 7.8 per cent in 2022, compared to 9.1 per cent in 2022, foreign direct investments will exceed Rs 20 billion, compared to Rs 15.4 billion in 2021, and the exports of goods and services will reach Rs 169 billion, compared to Rs 141 billion in 2021.
The Honourable Minister’s investiture with the African Finance Minister of the Year Award, a category of the African Business Leadership Awards (ABLA) follows his earlier nomination for the award, subsequent voting, and the final review of the voting submissions, which make up the 3-step points-based selection process of the African Business Leadership Awards (ABLA). The awards are in keeping with the African Leadership Magazine’s tradition of presenting the sides of the continent’s businesses and leaders, which hardly find placement on global media platforms – celebrating exemplary business leadership on the continent.
Other honourees during the African Business Leadership Awards (ABLA) presentation ceremony include Lesotho’s billionaire businessman, Mr Sam Matekan, and Mr Peter Ashade, Group CEO of United Capital Plc, Nigeria; and Mastercard Africa, and others.
About African Leadership Magazine
The African Leadership Magazine is published by African Leadership Organization Limited, a company registered in the United Kingdom (Company No. 07435198), “to celebrate African achievements and excellence in a way that empowers and inspires.” The magazine focuses on bringing the best of Africa to a global audience, telling the African story from an African perspective; while evolving solutions to peculiar challenges being faced by the continent today. Since its maiden edition in August 2008, African Leadership Magazine has grown to become a leading pan-African flagship leadership-focused publication read by over 1,200,000 targeted international investors, business executives, government policy makers and multilateral agencies across Africa, the Middle East and Asia, Europe and the US.
