The Republic of Mauritius and the Overcomingof the Hurdles to Economic Development

Abstract

The Republic of Mauritius enjoys welfare levels much higher than the average Subsaharan African country in spite of the fact that, when it became an independent country, it exhibited some of the features that have inhibited economic growth and poverty alleviation in other African countries. In this paper we focus on the way that Mauritius overcame three of these hurdles: i) a very heterogeneous population in ethnic and religious terms, that in other African countries has caused divisions and clashes and retarded economic development, ii) an economy extremely dependent on sugar and its by-products, and iii) the existence of propitious conditions for the spread of several diseases, in particular malaria.