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Monday, December 29, 2008

Mauritius - A rare bird in the African Union

Mauritius is a small island with almost 'zero' natural resources except its beaches & human resources BUT the progressive government(s) have done relatively well compared to its peers.

Here is an example of how the Mauritian government while recognizing the Global Financial Turmoil is much bigger than they can handle... they are trying to take PREEMPTIVE measures to mitigate the fallout as much as possible! Not burying their heads in the sand!

Sithanen (the Finance Minister) said the forecast for economic growth in 2008 had been cut again to 5.1 percent from 5.4 percent, and warned that while the economy was a long way off entering into recession, the island was not immune from the global slowdown.

In Kenya the CBK governor told Kenyans 'all is normal' and to expect 7% growth in 2008... and this is a crock of shit considering (1) post-election violence destroyed swathes of crops (2) the GFT & (3) soaring inflation.

There are 2 other countries I consider 'models' in Africa... Botswana & Rwanda. Both have challenges but they practice fiscal management. Botswana is a net creditor nation & Rwanda's Kagame has shown leadership in a country that was decimated in 1994.

7 comments:

RC said...

What I like about this small country is that it has a big banking presence and the policies its govt's are keeping at present with regard to fx flows are likely to make it the Swiss of Africa.. watch that space. Would form a good model on what an African country can do by focusing on what they have..

Anonymous said...

Emotions influence investment. Ndungu was making the best of a lousy situation.

Actually, I think he did a good job. Look at it in the context of PEV and resultant bad press.

coldtusker said...

Riba: Haven't heard from you in ages! Happy holidays!

Yes, they have set themselves up as the PREMIER African off-shore country for banking...

I like Rwanda's focus on ICT as well considering they have little else... some tourism & agriculture...

Anon 1.38: The problem is lack of properly defined (explained) policy measures. Look at what Singapore & Mauritius have done in view of the GFT. CBK has failed in that respect.

Anonymous said...

CBK has published clear economic policy measures on its website.

Can you be specific on what exactly is missing and how it would help?

Cheers & Happy New Year!

coldtusker said...

Anon: 12.20

Singapore: The Minister for Finance went on TV after the Budget was read to explain why he took/proposed the measures he did. Very nicely done.

Mauritius: The Finance Minister takes pre-emptive measures.

Kenya: No finance minister. The one we 'had' has been embroiled in 2 scandals. The currency printing scam & the 'unfair' sale of the GRH.

CBK Governor: Same scams as as kimunya.
Where is the explanation from CBK as regards to current inflation?
CBK claims we use an outdated inflation measurement tool. Why are we still using it 3 years since ndungu became governor?
What tools is CBK using to 'calm' inflation?

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