Until 1996, the enforcement of arbitral awards in Mauritius was governed by the Mauritian Code de Procédure Civile. This was a rather old-fashioned regime based on French law and adopted in 1808 and had not been amended to cater for the realities of the modern commercial world. In 1996 Mauritius ratified The Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, also known as the “New York Convention”.

The Mauritian Parliament undertook an overhaul of the insolvency regime in 2009 by passing the Insolvency Act No. 3 of 2009 (the “Insolvency Act”). The model upon which the netting arrangements have been enacted under the Insolvency Act is based on the 2006 Model Netting Act by the International Swaps and Derivatives Association.

The introduction of the new Mauritius Limited Partnership makes available a recognisable and flexible vehicle to US and European private equity funds which use Mauritius as a portal to access the investment opportunities of the African and Asian markets. The availability of the Mauritius Limited Partnership thus consolidates Mauritius’ position as an international financial centre of choice.

With a third of African countries growing at more than 6% annually, the continent is now home to many of the world’s fastest-growing economies, propelled by a growing middle-class, enhanced business environments and increasingly stable political democracies. Consequently, investors are attracted to the region’s high growth rates and to the tremendous opportunities offered by the nascent shift from commodities and agrarian-based economies to more consumer-driven economies.