JOURNÉE INTERNATIONALE DES PERSONNES ÂGÉES Le …

L’HEBDOMADAIRE ÉLECTRONIQUE GRATUITÉDITION 151 – VENDREDI 23 JUIN 2017

Covid-19: Key considerations for Directors

ÉDITION 310 – VENDREDI 02 OCTOBRE 2020 L’HEBDOMADAIRE DIGITAL GRATUIT

POSITION PAPER 5 - MAURITIUS INSTITUTE OF DIRECTORS

Le taux de dépendance vieillesse passera de 6 :1 à 3 :1

JOURNÉE INTERNATIONALE DES PERSONNES ÂGÉES

Covid-19: Key considerations for Directors

POSITION PAPER 5 - MAURITIUS INSTITUTE OF DIRECTORS

VENDREDI 02 OCTOBRE 2020 | BIZWEEK | ÉDITION 310

BIZ ALERT3

The Mauritius Institute of Directors, in collaboration with PwC, through the Directors Forum, released the publication of its Position Paper 5 on “Covid-19: Key Considerations for Directors”. The objective of this Paper is to provide guidance to Mauritian Boards in identifying key responsibilities

arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, and how to address them

As boards of directors across the globe grapple with the coronavi-rus (COVID-19) pandemic and

its ripple effects, numerous questions that go beyond the ordinary are raised. Com-panies are faced with an array of different risks.

The objective of the Position Paper 5 of the Mauritius Institute of Directors (MIoD) is to provide guidance to Mauritian Boards in identifying key responsibilities arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, and how to address them. These include: strategic lead-ership actions, possible financial and risk management oversights, tackling human re-sources and remuneration, IT infrastructure needs, dealing with external auditors, and, last but not the least, how to communicate in such circumstances.

The paper also outlines the enhanced roles of members of the top management,

the Board and its Committee members dur-ing and after the COVID-19 crisis.

“The COVID-19 crisis has caused disruption to businesses throughout the world. Mauritian or-ganizations are faced with unprecedented challenges and risks. The objective of this paper is to guide Mauritian boards to identify the key responsibili-ties that should be given special consideration during these difficult times. This document also serves as a reminder about the need to adhere to the principles of good corporate governance at all times and es-pecially in times of crisis”, says Linda Mamet, Chairperson of the Directors Forum and Interim CEO at MIoD.

According to Michael Ho Wan Kau, Part-ner at PwC, it is important to remind our-selves that what we are experiencing today will not end in the near term. The survival of an entity will depend on how its Board remains agile in managing the many issues discussed in this publication.

La transformation nécessaire de l’économie mauricienne se fera à travers un dialogue renforcé entre l’ensemble de ses acteurs économiques, politiques et so-ciaux, estime Vidia Mooneegan. Le président de Business Mau-ritius (BM) s’exprimait lors de son discours durant l’assemblée générale annuelle de l’association, qui a eu lieu le vendredi 25 sep-tembre, au Hennessy Park Hotel, à Ébène.

Rappelant les “vagues successives de perturbations sans précédent” qui ont affecté l’économie locale en 2020, notamment la crise Cov-id-19, le naufrage du Wakashio, de nouvelles législations contraig-nantes pour la communauté des affaires ou encore le placement de Maurice sur la liste noire de l’Un-ion Européenne, le président de BM a souligné les immenses défis qui guettent le pays.

D’après ce dernier, l’une des priorités consiste à avancer de manière urgente vers la réouver-ture de l’économie nationale afin de sauver les emplois et moyens de subsistance de la population, tout en contrôlant la propagation du virus grâce à notre système de santé. Il a aussi salué “les mem-bres de BM qui ont su se mon-trer résilients et innovants face à ces obstacles”. En effet, certains acteurs locaux sont parvenus à s’adapter et à ouvrir la voie vers de nouveaux horizons, estime-t-il.

Dans ce nouvel environnement, BM est “totalement engagé” dans sa

mission de support à la commu-nauté des affaires, a affirmé Vidia Mooneegan. “Plus que jamais, il est crucial d’établir un dialogue régulier, structuré, inclusif et constructif entre tous les acteurs économiques et sociaux pour trouver de nouvelles solutions et op-portunités”, a soutenu le président de BM.

Prenant la parole à son tour, Kevin Ramkaloan, CEO de BM, a fait un état des lieux de l’écon-omie, soulignant que la commis-sion économique prévoit que la situation s’aggravera encore du-rant le premier trimestre 2021.

Le CEO a rappelé les mesures d’accompagnement issues, entre autres, des rencontres succes-

sives avec les représentants des autorités depuis le confinement, incluant le Wage Assistance Scheme, le soutien aux entreprises à travers la BoM et le programme ISP, notamment. Il a également évoqué les difficultés associées à la mise en place de nouvelles lég-islations telles que le PRGF ou le CSG. Lors des discussions avec l’État à ce sujet, BM a notamment obtenu que l’entrée en opération du PRGF soit repoussée à 2022. En ce qui concerne le CSG, Kevin Ramkaloan a présenté les in-quiétudes de la communauté des affaires par rapport à cette loi qui vient d’entrer en vigueur en rem-placement du NPF.

Business Mauritius appelle à un “renforcement du dialogue” pour surmonter la crise

S.E. Filipe Nyusi, président du Mozambique, a été élu « Per-sonnalité de l’Année » en Afrique pour l’année 2020 par Africa Oil & Power. Ce prix prestigieux est décerné à des personnes excep-tionnelles qui font preuve d’un véritable leadership et d’une pensée innovante en guidant leurs pays ou organisations vers les sommets du secteur mondial de l’énergie. Le prix sera remis avec les plus grands honneurs lors de l’événement Mozambique Gas & Power 2021.

Le Président Nyusi a mené le secteur énergétique du Mozam-bique au cours de ses nombreux succès récents, comprenant plu-sieurs projets gaziers de plusieurs milliards de dollars qui sont actu-ellement en cours de développe-

ment dans ce pays d’Afrique aus-trale. Ces projets de gaz naturel, une fois exploités, représenteront plus de trois fois le PIB actuel du pays, le projet Rovuma LNG di-rigé par Exxon étant évalué à 23,9 milliards de dollars ; le projet gazi-er Total du pays, évalué à 23 milli-ards de dollars ; et le projet Coral FLNG de 4,7 milliards de dollars, qui devrait produire le premier gaz en 2022.

Le président Nyusi a mainten-ant rejoint un club exclusif en ce qui concerne le leadership énergé-tique africain. Les précédents ré-cipiendaires du prix « Personnalité de l’année » incluent S.E. Président du Sénégal Macky Sall en 2019 et S.E Mohammed Sanusi Barkindo, Secrétaire général de l’OPEP, en 2018.

Le président du Mozambique sera nommé « Personnalité

de l’Année » en Afrique pour l’année 2020

Le taux de dépendance vieillesse passera de 6 :1 à 3 :1

JOURNÉE INTERNATIONALE DES PERSONNES ÂGÉES


LA TOUR4

Les autorités ont pris des mesures pour améliorer les conditions de vie de nos quelques 233 000 citoyens âgés. La pension de retraite est passée de Rs 3 623 (2014) à Rs 9 000, ce qui représente une hausse de 148% en six ans. Or, des défis majeurs nous attendent avec la population vieillissante. On parle même d’une hausse significative du taux de dépendance (nombre de personnes de plus de 60 ans rapporté au nombre de personnes âgées

de 20 à 59 ans)

Le 1er octobre, on célèbre la Journée internationale des personnes âgées. Pour l’an-née financière 2020, les au-torités débourseront environ

Rs 27.7 milliards rien que pour nos aînés en termes de pension de vieillesse. Ce-tte enveloppe s’élevait à environ Rs 14.4 milliards pour l’année financière 2017-18. Ainsi, cela représente une hausse considérable de 92% sur une période de deux ans. Ce chiffre est appelé à évoluer d’ici 2024 quand la pension passera à Rs 13 500.

Entretemps, les visites à domiciles pour les personnes âgées avec handi-cap ou alitées coûtent quelques Rs 150 millions annuellement, et l’achat de leurs vaccins tournerait autour de Rs 34 millions. Le transport gratuit pour per-sonnes âgées coûterait Rs 400 millions annuellement à l’Etat.

Au vu de la population vieillissante de Maurice, les défis s’accentuent. Ce-tte hausse a un impact direct sur le taux de dépendance vieillesse. Cet indicateur représente le ratio entre le nombre de

personnes âgées de 60 ans ou plus (âge auquel elles sont généralement économ-iquement inactives) et le nombre de per-sonnes de 20 à 59 ans. Le ratio passera de 6 :1 (donc six personnes actives pour un pensionné) à 3 :1 d’ici 2030. Le nombre de bénéficiaires de la ‘Basic Retirement Pension’ a augmenté de 108% depuis l’an 2000, soit 112 000 contre 233 000 à août 2020. Ce chiffre, selon les autorités, pas-serait à 343 000 d’ici 2054.

Cette élévation des ratios de dépendance des personnes âgées con-tribuera à augmenter les dépenses pub-liques de santé, de soins de longue durée et de retraite.

Outre l’aspect financier de la chose, le côté médical est également à prendre en considération. Avec la hausse de la pop-ulation vieillissante et une durée de vie plus longue, le pays devra pouvoir assur-er au niveau des services santé. Surtout en ce qui concerne les services des spé-cialistes tels les gériatres, les infirmiers gériatriques, les aides-soignants formés et des travailleurs sociaux offrant des ser-vices spécialisés pour personnes âgées.

Turning inwards: What Asia’s self-sufficiency drive means for business and investors

A REPORT BY THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT


ACTA PUBLICA5

Asia’s leading emerging economies are turning inwards. Having once seen the rest of the world as a source of growth and opportunity, governments in the region increasingly perceive uncertainty and (in some cases) threat. Underway is a reappraisal of economic development policy that is set to have lasting implications for business and investors. An inward turn in economic policy was already underway in Asia before the arrival of the coronavirus

(Covid-19), but the global disruption caused by the pandemic has accelerated this shift. In China, policymakers are discussing a “dual circulation” strategy that aims to foster resilience by emphasizing the “internal” circulation of the domestic economy over the “external” circulation of the global

economy. The Indian government has launched a “self-reliance” movement designed to reduce perceived supply chain vulnerabilities. Meanwhile, amid the pandemic, Indonesia has unveiled import substitution policies aimed at supporting domestic industry

Cont’d on page 6

In this paper The Economist Intelli-gence Unit clarifies the extent of the inward economic shift underway in Asia, focusing on the region’s leading emerging markets of China, India and

Indonesia, and provides advice for business-es and investors on its implications. Among its key findings: The inward turn in econom-ic policy across emerging Asian markets is driven by geopolitical tensions and security concerns. China’s focus on self-sufficiency is shaped by the worsening trajectory of its re-lations with the US, while India’s shift in the same direction stems from concerns about economic dependence on China. Secondly, Asia’s inward turn represents a step back from closer global integration, but is not a move to autarky. Countries in the region will still present significant commercial op-portunities for foreign businesses and inves-tors. However, EIU expects a trend towards operational localisation to intensify and, for global investors, grasping the opportunity in Asia while managing political pressures in their home markets will be increasingly challenging.

China’s dual circulation model: Managing risk trumps growth

Deteriorating diplomatic and trade rela-tions, especially with the US, have deepened Chinese calls for greater economic self-suf-ficiency. This year, policymakers have been discussing a “dual circulation model” that iden-tifies the domestic market as the mainstay of the Chinese economy, rather than global markets. They see an inward pivot as reduc-ing China’s exposure to the vagaries of the global economy, whether in terms of supply or demand. Dual circulation is set to fea-ture prominently in China’s five-year plan for 2021-25 due to be released in March 2021. In some respects, dual circulation is a restatement of the long-held goal of rebal-ancing China’s economy. Amid the 2008-09 global financial crisis, China’s government

called for efforts to “expand domestic demand” as the country’s export-driven growth model showed its limits.

A fresh policy push behind rebalancing is therefore due; and efforts to boost domestic demand under dual circulation will be more emphatic. This is partly because, for China private consumption offers the best channel through which to deliver sustainable long-term economic growth, but it also stems from the government’s sense of significant changes in the external environment. The US-China trade war and the desire of sev-eral countries to reduce their dependence on Chinese supply chains suggests that China faces diminished access to overseas markets in the future.

Besides cultivating the domestic market

to drive growth, the other key element of dual circulation will be reducing risks tied to import dependency. Given the worsening trajectory of China’s international relations, the authorities are concerned about the se-curity of international supplies of food, en-ergy and technology on which the country depends. We believe that, under dual circu-lation, reducing these vulnerabilities and for-tifying self-reliance in production and distri-bution will be the priority even if it results in some economic inefficiencies. Risk preven-tion and the imperative of national security will trump “high-quality growth”.

Among all sectors, technology stands out as the area likely to receive the most overt support in achieving self-sufficiency, with semiconductors or integrated circuits (ICs)

enjoying the strongest attention. The vulner-ability has been highlighted by the pressure applied on Huawei and other Chinese tech-nology companies by US actions to restrict their access to global technology through export controls.

As one of the world’s largest importers of energy, China views energy security as one of its top priorities, with any risk to sup-plies likely to have significant implications for industrial production and consumption. In 2019 almost 85% of China’s oil con-sumption was derived from imports, while imported gas accounted for over 40% of consumption. In contrast with technology, China is less dependent on the US and its allies for energy imports—Saudi Arabia and Russia are its largest suppliers of oil, while


ACTA PUBLICA6

Cont’d on page 7

Responding to Asia’s inward turn

For businesses and investors that straddle national borders, Asia’s inward economic turn is potentially troubling. Policies that aim to curb imports or prioritise local companies risk reducing their access to some of the largest emerging markets globally. Led by China, India and Indonesia, Asia posted some of the fastest rates of GDP growth globally pre-coronavirus and we believe that the region will be the quickest to recover economically from the pandemic. In reality, the door is unlikely to close to foreign investors and we do not perceive a dramatic shift to autarky. China, India and Indonesia all retain a (varying) dependence on foreign goods and capital that it will be difficult to erode, even with concerted policy pushes. This should ensure a continued role for foreign trade and investment. Efforts by these countries to boost their domestic economies through structural reforms also point to enhanced commercial

opportunities.There will be variations among the three countries, however. China is the most economically advanced of the group and its embrace of foreign participation is likely to be most selective, given its greater domestic resources. There will still be areas where the authorities will be keen to entice more foreign capital when it aligns with strategic and economic goals; recent liberalisations for foreign investors in the financial sector, for example, will encourage local companies to lift their competitiveness while also providing an influential source of foreign support for stable diplomatic ties with China. The overall trend, however, will be towards a diminished role for foreign firms as strengthening domestic companies widen their market share. Besides support from the state, local companies are likely to be more adept at adjusting to domestic market

preferences, especially in the consumer sector. India and Indonesia are likely to be more embracing of foreign participation. India’s “self-reliance” movement still retains a prominent role for foreign investment, other than from China. In Indonesia, too, despite the expansion of import substitution policies, the government remains keen to welcome foreign investment in areas such as manufacturing, ecommerce and infrastructure, while caps on foreign ownership in some sectors have been loosened. Both India and Indonesia will struggle in their goal of moving up the value chain without foreign support and they see an opportunity to attract investment amid supply chain relocation from China. The operational challenges for foreign investors will be significant, however, unless there is progress towards deregulation of land and labour markets in both countries.


ACTA PUBLICA7

the bulk of gas imports come from Turk-menistan. Nevertheless, concerns about po-tential disruptions to shipments, including via sea-lanes in the South China Sea where geopolitical tensions have risen, suggest en-ergy security will be a feature of the dual cir-culation strategy.

Self-reliant India: Closing the door to China

The Atmanirbhar Bharat (“Self-reliant India”) initiative is a culmination of differ-ent factors reflecting economic and security challenges faced by India. India entered the Covid-19 pandemic with significant eco-nomic challenges. Real GDP growth had been on a downward trend for three con-secutive years, slowing to 4.2% in fiscal year 2019/20 (April-March), creating challenges in finding employment for the nearly 5m workers entering the labour force annually. India’s low state capacity, poor healthcare infrastructure and highly populated urban centres have left it particularly affected by the pandemic, which has weighed further on the economy.

The 23.9% year-on-year contraction in real GDP recorded in April-June amid lockdown measures was the steepest among any G20 economy over that period. While the self-re-liance initiative focuses on the Indian econo-my, it is as much about reducing India’s eco-nomic dependence on China. India’s views on China have hardened in recent years and border clashes involving the two countries in June 2020 have given rise to the view that its larger, more powerful neighbour represents a threat to national security. Self-reliance pri-oritises weaning India off Chinese imports and, at the same time, exploiting a reassess-ment of relations with China around the world to attract supply-chains shifting out of the country.

Under the initiative, we expect the govern-ment to ease domestic regulations. Special importance will be given to the loosening of land and labour laws, which have been a significant pain point for private companies. While some progress has been made on this front, with various Indian states having sus-pended labour regulations for the coming years through ordinances, we expect perma-nent progress on this to be slow because of domestic opposition.

In addition, the authorities have commit-ted to withdrawing (without a specified time frame) from non-strategic sectors of the Indian economy by privatising state-owned firms (known as public-sector undertakings or PSUs) and reducing their number to a maximum of four in strategic sectors, pro-viding an opportunity for private and for-eign investment. We expect the government to expand its existing incentive schemes (for goods production and setting up infrastruc-ture) to attract foreign investors and support

domestic manufacturers.In a step to dissuade imports and further

support domestic industries, we also expect the government to increase non-tariff barri-ers on low-cost competition to Indian man-ufacturing industries, such as through adjust-ing quality control standards, and increasing import tariff rates on products that could be alternatively made in India.

Besides sectoral opportunities, India’s in-ward turn also poses some economic risks. A more protectionist trade stance and any increase in tariff rates for imports may lead to punitive tariffs or the revocation of trade benefits from its partners. Most recently this was seen when the US revoked India’s access to its market under the generalised system of preferences, citing high Indian import tariffs. It will also ensure that India remains outside emerging regional trade blocs from which it could benefit.

Another risk with the self-reliance initia-tive is the possibility that the government, while implementing increasing tariff and non-tariff barriers, does not follow through on the broader reform agenda. If the gov-ernment does not undertake the opening of various sectors to private enterprises, ease overbearing regulation and privatise loss-making PSUs, India’s manufacturing sector will be rendered further uncompet-itive. Furthermore, this would make future governments averse to opening up the econ-omy again.

Indonesia: Import substitution makes a comeback

In Indonesia, import substitution policies are showing signs of making a comeback. In recent years the country has appeared com-mitted to outward-looking free-trade agree-ments. Association of South-East Asian

Nations (ASEAN) countries, through the founding pacts of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), have secured significant tariff reductions across member states. In-donesia has also been among the more vocal supporters of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, a megaregional trade agreement set to harmonise many existing trade agreements.

However, protectionist sentiment has nev-er been far from the surface and it may be that the country sees such trade agreements primarily as ways to promote its exports. In-donesia’s president, Joko Widodo (Jokowi), has expressed concerns about Indonesia being a destination for exports from other ASEAN members once the AEC is final-ised. The Indonesian government has also managed to retain many non-tariff barriers, despite its rhetoric. According to the World Bank, 69% of goods imports to Indonesia are subjected to non-tariff measures, like pre-shipment inspection and traceability re-quirements, compared with 31.1% in Thai-land and 38% in Vietnam.

Besides insulating parts of the domes-tic economy, Indonesian policy towards cross-border trade and investment is also influenced by structural factors. A persis-tent current-account deficit has been a long-standing concern for successive Indonesian governments owing to the volatility it can cause in the rupiah’s value. A weak rupiah in-creases the cost of external debt repayment for the country.

The coronavirus pandemic is further en-couraging an inward-looking tendency. In July this year Indonesia’s Ministry of In-dustry outlined a target of reducing import reliance across a range of sectors, including machinery, chemicals, metals and electronics, with a goal of shifting 35% of current im-ports in such areas to domestic sources by 2022. While the road map is still at the plan-

ning stage, it appears to be a more emphat-ic version of earlier self-sufficiency plans backed by the ministry, such as those target-ing a higher share of domestic products in government procurement.

The government’s programme can be at-tributed to several concerns. First, the addi-tional safeguarding will help distressed state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Among the more notable of these is PT Krakatau, a steel mak-er, which is dependent on government sup-port and has been struggling to restructure its debt. The government has requested all import steels to be subjected to SNI starting from September, an initiative pushed by the firm. Alongside this, imports for capital-in-tensive goods in the electronics, machinery, and pharmaceutical sectors have drained In-donesia’s foreign exchange and widened the trade deficit.

Unlike China and India, Indonesia’s in-ward-looking policies are not guided by spe-cific geopolitical concerns but are more an assessment of domestic economic interests. The country has few trade tensions with the US or China, for example. The trade deficit with China is substantial, but Indonesian ex-ports to China have increased substantially over the past few years.

While investors may therefore find them-selves relatively insulated from geopolitical tensions in Indonesia, navigating domestic political interests remains challenging. As noted, SOEs retain a protected role in key segments of the economy, such as finance, metal processing and construction. Scrutiny will also be applied by the authorities to in-vestments in sensitive primary sectors, such as mining and palm oil plantations. A lack of skilled labour and trained scientists, as well as a poor record in protecting intellectual property rights, makes Indonesia a less desir-able investment destination for research-in-tensive industries like pharmaceuticals.

Banking on Sustainability

Today, events like economic and environmental disasters, geopolitical tensions, depletion of natural resources and pandemics have deep economic and social consequences around the world and our little Mauritius is not being spared either. The private sector at large has understood

that sustainability is not limited to the creation of financial and eco-nomic value but also encompasses broader objectives such as long-term environmental and social value for their stakeholders, which includes shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers, media, com-munities, and public-sector partners – with particular consideration for the needs of future generations. A clear global trend has emerged in the last couple of years and Mau-ritius is now slowly but surely following the same trend – in other words, following the global transition towards sustainability-driven economies. Many industries acknowledge that the element of sus-tainability is now becoming an essential criterion of competitive ad-vantage that they can no longer ignore.

Sustainability and Finance: The crucial role of the Mauritian banking sectorThe Mauritian banking sector as a major provider of finance for all businesses, regardless of shapes and sizes, plays a pivotal role in promoting environmental and social sustainability across industries, sectors and communities. Let us not underestimate the influence of the banking sector in positively shaping their clients’ environmen-tal and social actions through their products and services. Over the years, traditional banks have launched a plethora of retail and cor-porate banking green products such as green car loans, green mort-gages or green debit cards. Around the world, the demands for such products and other financial instruments such as green bonds are on the rise thus creating an array of opportunities for banks and other financial institutions towards both customers and investors.

Creating Business Value through Environmental and Social Management

For banks, only adopting the ‘traditional’ risk management models (which includes financial and credit risks assessment framework) will not be sufficient to target new markets and generate profits. However, if a bank effectively manages social and environmental op-portunities alongside risks, they will be in a better position to create long-term value for their businesses. Although we need to bear in mind that pursuing sustainability-related opportunities alone would not help to reduce the bank’s environmental and social risks!One may tend to think that that the financial sector in itself does not pollute much or have a high negative social impact as compared to other industries such as manufacturing or non-renewable energy. Yet, did you know that more than 90 percent of a bank’s environ-mental and social footprint is accounted indirectly through its lend-ing facilities to clients? According to The Economist, investing with an eye on environmental and social issues, rather than just financial returns, is becoming more mainstream. The World is now entering into a ‘sustainable banking era’ and according to the Global Sustain-able Investment Alliance (GSIA), USD 31trn or 34% of all assets under management in 2018 were in ‘socially responsible investments’ that take into account environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues.In the local context and in particular at Bank One, we are fully cognizant of this changing business landscape and we are thrilled to have recently embarked on a new transformational journey to place sustainability at the very heart of our business. With the close support of a major Development Finance Institution (DFI), we are working towards a systematic approach in the form of an Environ-mental & Social Management System (ESMS) that is fully integrated into our core processes and operations. There is still a long way to go but Bank One laying the groundwork for a strategy to create long-term value through sustainable banking practices. It means that the Bank will be providing products and services only to those customers that take into consideration the environmental and social impact of their activities. Bank One is fully prepared for the journey ahead and is gearing for the adoption of sustainability as a holistic approach. This entails capacity building and training as well as setting measurements and standards of performance across the bank. The Environmental & Social Risk Management Framework will act as a complement the other risk management models already in place (ex. operational risk management, credit risk management, etc.). Moreover, an efficient Social & Environmental Risk Management Framework will definite-ly improve the quality of our client portfolio, lower credit and com-pliance risk and ultimately the cost of doing business. We believe that pursuing innovative financial solutions and products generates new markets with new clients that have a soft spot for sustainable solutions.

The importance of a strong regulatory framework on the sustainability front for the banking sector in Mauritius.Our domestic banking system has a strong regulatory framework but, until recently, we were lagging behind compared to some of our African peers when it comes to understanding and managing cli-mate-related risks in the financial sector. However, we are pleased to note that things are moving rapidly in this space, as the BOM became a full-fledged member of the Network of Central Banks and Super-visors for Greening the Financial System (NGFS) in July 2020. The NGFS is a platform that promotes the sharing of experience and best practices among central banks and supervisors to address climate risk management. The network also enables its members to work to-gether for a green and sustainable financial system.I believe that having a strong banking regulation framework with a clear focus on the Sustainable Development agenda is vital in today’s fast-changing environmental and business context. Having the sup-port of the BOM will definitely encourage banks to embed the con-cept of a greener banking sector in Mauritius in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement.

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP PIECE

POST SCRIPTUM8

Sustainability has been a buzzword in recent years, but what does the term sustainability really entail for the banking sector? Taking International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) apt definition for this sector, they define sustainability as “ensuring long-term business success while contributing toward economic and social development, a healthy environment, and a stable society.”

SANJEEVE JHURRYSuStainability Managerbank One


DEBRIEF9

ICAEW and MIPA stressed the importance of chartered accountants to economic re-

covery at a joint event they held virtually on Thursday 17 Septem-ber, which brought together more than 300 professionals working in accountancy and in business, to discuss the effect the coronavirus pandemic has had on the Mauritian economy.

ICAEW and MIPA highlighted how accountants were essential in helping to advise businesses and people about what government support was available and ensure they received the help they were entitled to.

The two professional bodies will support their members in continu-ing to give businesses and the gov-

ernment the best guidance on how to face the challenges created by the pandemic. Speakers during the event included MIPA Chief Execu-tive Officer Sudhir Newaj, ICAEW President David Matthews, PwC Mauritius Senior Partner Anthony Leung Shing, EY Mauritius Man-aging Partner Gerald Lincoln, and Pierre Dinan Economic Consultant.

David Matthews, ICAEW Presi-dent, said: “The COVID-19 pandemic is primarily a global health crisis, but it is also an economic crisis, the likes of which none of us have ever seen before. The economies which will have the best chances of strong recoveries will be those where people can trust data, leaders can make well-informed decisions, public finances are transparent, and businesses are ac-countable. Accountants and their meas-

uring and analysing skills will be key to ensuring this, and we are pleased to work with MIPA to make sure accountants in Mauritius are well-prepared.”

Sudhir Newaj, MIPA Chief Ex-ecutive Officer, said: “MIPA is delighted to have collaborated with the ICAEW to organise this event. The dis-cussions provided participants with perti-nent insights on the impact of COVID 19 on the economy and the country as a whole, and it was very fruitful, construc-tive and productive.”

The speakers also discussed the consequences of the Mauritian Government-ordered lockdown, how the country’s tourism sector will recover, and how auditors have been able to adapt audit procedures which required them to be physi-cally present in businesses.

Lutte contre le cancer : CIDP aux côtés des DunienZîl durant leur tour de Maurice à pied

Après presque un mois passé sur les routes, Laurent, Amélie, Victor et Raphaël ont complété leur tour de Maurice à pied le dimanche 20 septembre. La famille d’Unienville, plus connue comme Les DunienZîl, avait en effet pris la route le 24 août dernier. Au-delà du défi physique, l’objectif de cette initiative était de lever des fonds pour Link to Life, et ainsi permettre à cette ONG de poursuivre ses programmes de soutien et d’accom-pagnement destinés aux personnes atteintes de cancer. Sensible à cette cause, le Centre International de Développement Pharma-ceutique (CIDP) a tenu à être à leurs côtés pour les encourager. C’est ainsi qu’une équipe d’employés a rejoint Les DunienZîl le 13 septembre sur le parcours Le Bouchon - Bénarès, ensemble ils ont parcouru plus de 18 km. Ce tour de l’île à pied a permis de récolter Rs 900 000, somme qui a été entièrement reversée à l’ONG.

Le Buddha-Bar Beach primé pour son design aux International Hotel & Property Awards 2020

Le restaurant Buddha-Bar Beach a remporté les Internation-al Hotel & Property Awards 2020 dans la catégorie ‘Restaurant within a hotel – Global winner’. Design et Al est l’un des prin-cipaux magazines de design d’intérieur au Royaume-Uni. Les International Hotel & Property Awards proposent un certain nombre de catégories qui récompensent principalement le design des hôtels et la décoration intérieure entre autres. Ouvert le 14 décembre 2018, le Buddha Bar, premier Buddha Bar Beach à l’Ile Maurice, est plébiscité notamment pour son design signé Paul Bishop.

DISNEY+ rejoint les offres CANAL+ à partir d’aujourd’hui

A compter d’aujourd’hui, 2 octobre 2020, MC Vision/CANAL+ Maurice propose Disney+ à ses abonnés, ayant le service PLAY avec le décodeur 4K-ULTRA HD. PLAY offre un vaste catalogue de plus de 20 000 films, séries, documentaires, programmes Bol-lywood et programmes pour enfants à regarder à tout moment. Avec Disney+, les abonnés profiteront d’une grande variété de longs-métrages originaux, de documentaires, de séries en prises de vues réelles et animées et de courts métrages, en plus d’un ac-cès sans précédent à l’incomparable catalogue de films et de con-tenus TV issus des 5 marques Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars et National Geographic et plus encore. Les abonnés pourront aussi profiter de l’intégralité des contenus Disney+ avec myCANAL et sur leur TV avec PLAY et le décodeur 4K-ULTRA HD.

Long Beach : Le restaurant Hasu et Shores Bar accueillent à nou-veau à partir du 9 octobre

Long Beach, hôtel de la côte-est, a annoncé la réouverture de son restaurant japonais Hasu ainsi que le Shores Bar dès le 9 octobre, tous les vendredis et samedis. Le Shores Bar permettra de se détendre tout en sirotant un cocktail avant de passer au dîner. Profitez de l’offre « Happy Hour » entre 17 h et 19h sur une sélection de boissons. Un DJ et un groupe de musique sera aussi sur place pour animer toute la soirée.

The accountancy profession must play a key role in helping Mauritian businesses recover from the impact of COVID-19, according to professional accountancy bod-ies ICAEW (the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales) and the

Mauritius Institute for Professional Accountants (MIPA)


Une trentaine d’étudiants mau-riciens qui ont réalisé les meilleurs résultats aux examens de l’Associ-ation of Chartered Certified Ac-countants (ACCA) en septembre et décembre 2019 ainsi qu’en mars 2020 ont été récompensés par ACCA Mauritius le 30 septembre

2020 à la High Achievers Cele-bration organisée au Westin Tur-tle Bay Resort & Spa, Mauritius, à Balaclava. Lors de cette High Achievers Celebration, des shields ont été offerts aux étudiants qui ont été classés 1er, 2ème et 3ème en général au niveau national ou

qui ont obtenu les meilleurs résul-tats dans chaque module aux trois derniers examens de l’ACCA. Par-mi ces étudiants, quatre ont obtenu des résultats qui les placent dans le ‘Top 5’ mondial dans un ‘Paper’ (examen) de l’ACCA. Deux autres se sont classés dans le ‘Top 10’.

ACCA Mauritius récompense les meilleurs étudiants de l’année

Chartered accountants will be key to

COVID-19 recovery

MAURITIUS INSTITUTE OF PROFESSIONAL ACCOUNTANTS

DEBRIEF10VENDREDI 02 OCTOBRE 2020 | BIZWEEK | ÉDITION 310

“The material deterioration in the operating context since early 2020 has led to

a reversal of the strong growth in results recorded by the Group during the first se-mester of FY 2019/20. Profits attrib-utable to ordinary shareholders dropped by 16.1% to reach Rs 7,912 million for the year ended 30 June 2020, essentially due to a substantial increase in Expected Credit Losses (ECL) resulting from the high level of uncertainty engendered by the rOVID-19 crisis. Indeed, additional ECL on the Group’s performing asset portfolio amounted to Rs 3,364 million to reflect an inherent increase in credit risks on a forward-looking basis, thus contrib-uting to impairment charges of Rs 5,076 million for the year under review”, com-mented Pierre Guy Noël, the Chief Executive of MCB Group Ltd.

Net interest income was up by 11.2%, supported by a significant in-crease in average earning assets, on the back of an expansion in loans and advances and higher investment in Government securities, amidst persistently high liquidity levels do-mestically. Net fee and commission income declined by 4.7% to stand at Rs 3,937 million reflecting difficult market conditions and dampened activity levels due to confinement measures.

Share of profit of associates

The share of profit of associates decreased marginally with improved results posted by BFCOI being

offset by a subdued performance recorded at the level of Promotion and Development Ltd.

Operating expenses

Operating expenses increased by 3.7%, mainly attributable to the rise of 2.7% in staff costs, on the back of sustained efforts to upgrade hu-man capital and continued invest-ment in technology for the year under review. Given the growth of 8.5% in operating income, the cost to income ratio improved by 164 basis points to reach 35.5%.

ImpairmentImpairment charges reached Rs

5,076 million, representing an an-nualised cost of risk of 184 basis points of gross loans and advances. Specific provisions net of recover-ies amounted to Rs 1,712 million, representing 66 basis points of to-tal credit, broadly in line with his-torical trends. On the other hand, additional ECL on the Group’s performing asset portfolio stood at Rs 3,364 million, reflecting the inherent increase in credit risks on a forward-looking basis. For its part, gross Non Performing Loans (NPL) ratio increased from 4.1% to 4.2% while net NPL ratio stood at 2.9% as at June 2020.

Impairment charges rose by 217.8%

MCB GROUP RESULTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2020

Tamassa Bel Ombre : Un package ‘détente’ spécialement sculpté pour les Mauriciens

Avec les récentes actualités et le stress accumulé cette année, quoi de mieux que de faire une pause « détente » afin d’accueillir comme il se doit l’été. Tamassa Bel Ombre a mis en place une nouvelle offre tout incluse, spécialement sculptée pour des moments magiques en famille ou entre amis. L’objectif de cette « Chill’Out Offer », proposée du 1er octobre au 30 novembre, est de permettre aux Mauriciens de vivre une expérience unique dans un cadre authentique, le temps d’un week-end. Exceptionnellement durant les vacances scolaires, du 17 octobre au 3 novembre, l’hôtel sera ouvert pendant la semaine donnant l’occasion aux familles de se retrouver. En effet, les clients bénéficieront d’une remise de 5 à 10% sur le prix de Rs 6500 pour des séjours entre trois et cinq nuitées en semaine pour deux adultes et un enfant de moins de 12 ans.

Kaz’Out: Nouveau rendez-vous le 7 novembre

Kaz’Out, un melange entre “out of your house” et “out of the box”. C’est sortir de sa maison pour découvrir, partager et s’ouvrir à de nouveaux horizons. Cette philosophie, les organisateurs du Kaz’Out veulent l’insuffler à travers un festival de musique qui favorise la cu-riosité du public. La programmation offre des styles très variés à ses festivaliers. Cette variété de genres est liée à l’envie de ne pas s’enfer-mer dans une case réductrice et de faire preuve d’ouverture musicale autant que possible. Rendez-vous donc le 7 novembre de 17h à minu-it à L’Aventure du Sucre, Beau Plan. Les scènes du festival restent identiques aux précédentes éditions avec Kanbar, Kaz’Apero, Dan Vilaz et Silent Party. Cette année, le Festival veut venir en aide aux nombreuses familles du sud-est qui sont devenues vulnérable suite au naufrage du Wakashio, en collaborant avec l’organisation à but non-lucratif Eco-Sud. Tous ceux qui souhaitent être présent le jour du festival sont encouragés à faire un DON à travers l’achat de leur billet. Chaque billet acheté sera directement reversé aux familles de la côte su- est, en difficulté.

Red Bull Car Park Drift le 3 octobre : Innovation pour cette 7ème édition

Les organisateurs déploient les grands moyens pour faire vivre en « live » la septième édition du spectaculaire Red Bull Car Park Drift (Mauritius) au public mauricien et international, le samedi 3 octo-bre. Plus de 16 pilotes étaient déjà inscrits au vendredi 25 septem-bre - les inscriptions étant encore ouvertes jusqu’au 30 septembre. Le Red Bull Car Park Drift mauricien édition 2020 aura lieu à huis clos car Red Bull a adopté mondialement un principe de précau-tion par rapport à la Covid-19 et évite les grands rassemblements pour les événements que la marque organise dans cette situation difficile. Afin que le public ne manque pas cet événement phare du sport automobile mauricien, Red Bull déploie une infrastructure de production vidéo et de diffusion en direct. Le prestataire vidéo pour Red Bull à Maurice, l’agence locale Hysteria Productions, déploiera 7 caméras en diffusion live, deux drones, une régie de réalisation en direct, ainsi qu’une « cablecam ».

On Monday 28 September, MCB Group Limited announced its audited results for the year ended 30 June 2020. The profit attributable to ordinary shareholders

reached Rs 7.9 billion, that is a decrease of 16.1%. On the other hand, impairment charges attained Rs 5.1 million, which represents an increase of 217.8%

Un écrin intégrant les dernières technologies pour une expérience plus intense. L’offre Airbox+, is-sue d’un partenariat entre Emtel et MC Vision/CANAL+ Maurice, combine téléphonie fixe, connex-ion Internet illimité et 50 chaînes télé, ainsi que le service PLAY qui donne accès à plus de 20 000 programmes à la demande. Cette nouvelle offre, disponible depuis

le 25 septembre, est proposée à un tarif très compétitif. Le Pack Airbox+ est une offre 3P comprenant 10MB d’Internet illimité, un forfait d’appel men-suel de 100 minutes, 50 chaînes télé incluant les chaînes phares telles que CANAL+, National Geographic, M6, et TF1 entre autres, 29 chaînes radio, l’accès à plus de 20 000 programmes à la demande à travers PLAY

et également, l’application my-CANAL pour regarder la télé sur PC, tablette et smartphone, à la maison ou en mobilité. De plus, les abonnés ont également la pos-sibilité, s’ils le souhaitent, de per-sonnaliser leur offre, en rajoutant des packs télé, tels que FOOT et SPORT, CINÉ et SÉRIES, BOL-LYWOOD ou encore KIDS à partir de Rs 100, ainsi que des ser-vices comme Netflix.

Offre tout-en-un : Internet, TV et téléphonie fixe avec la nouvelle offre Airbox+

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