 A sustained growth for the banking sector |
The Mauritian banking sector and is competitive and has been
experiencing a sustained growth of 8 to 10% over the past 10 years. It consists of locally
owned banks as well as branches of international banks. But, the local banks have also
been looking elsewhere for growth, investment and diversification. The Mauritius Commercial Bank has existed for 160 years and the
State Bank for 25 years, are the leaders in Mauritius. According to Mr. Guy Noėl, the General Manager of the Mauritius Commercial
Bank, « The MCB is responsible for 60% of the financing of the Export Processing Zone; We
are also active in the touristsector which is a sector that has known major changes. We still hold the
number one position among the banks of the island, we have nearly 45% of the market share
in terms of «savings» that is 700,000 saving account for a population of 1.2 million.
The MCB is today the majority shareholder in Banque Francaise Commerciale (Ocean Indian);
a Paris based French bank, affiliated to Banque Indosuez, which operates nine agencies in
Reunion Island, three in the Seychelles and another three in Mayotte. We have set up in
Antananarivo Madagascar and the Union Commercial Bank of which it is the majority
shareholder, the others being the Standard Bank of South Africa and Malagasy partners.
With Credit Lyonnais and Banque de la Reunion, MCB is a shareholder of Banque
Internationale Des Mascareignes, an offshore unit based in Mauritius. We give priority on
the regional role to the bank and we intend to be in Mozambique by the beginning of next
year where we believe there is scope in agriculture, manufacturing and tourism».
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The State Bank of Mauritius during its 25
years of existence has been actively involved in developing international strategic
partnerships. According to Mr. K T Reddy,
Chairman of the State Bank «As a financial institution, we wish to provide universal
banking under one roof, like asset management, stockbroking and leasing and we tried to
build up these capabilities in Europe, the USA, Asia and Africa. Besides giving the State
bank international reach, this would further contribute in making the bank and the
Mauritian financial sector a cornerstone for developing cross-border business between the
Indian Ocean, Africa and Asia. Our deal with the Nedcor Group of South Africa, a major
financial group was to bring in skilled development and transfer and we also want to offer
a bigger geographical coverage for our customers. Locally, the leading banks have
nation-wide branch networks, with 24 hour ATM’s. The State Bank is the first
Mauritian bank to have two full-fledged branches in India where, it has experienced among
the foreigh bank the best growth for 98. Apart a subsidiary bank in Madagascar, the State
Bank plans to open three to four branches in Africa by the end of 1999.
Mr Reddy concludes with «We have a lot to offer in terms of
infrastructure, a dynamic government ; good legislative part and democracy and with these
key factors we stand a good chance of increasing trade with other countries. |
