🇲🇺 Labour Minister moves to strip ENS Africa Mauritius of its operating licence

Labour Minister moves to strip ENS Africa Mauritius of its operating licence

Labour Minister Reza Uteem told Parliament yesterday he will ask the Attorney General to revoke the licence of ENS Africa Mauritius if no settlement is reached with two employees who say they were dismissed for wearing the hijab at work.

The case has already passed through the Equal Opportunities Commission and the Employment Relations Tribunal without producing an agreement between the parties. Uteem said he would not let the matter drift further. For a major law firm with continental reach, the threat to its right to practise here is a different order of pressure than a tribunal ruling.

Uteem's afternoon ended in an unrelated fight with FMP MP Joanna Bérenger, who pressed him over a Bangladeshi carer once employed by his 80-year-old mother. The minister called the claim that the woman had been confined an "absolute lie" and the row spilled onto Facebook within the hour.

A sitting Labour Minister using his bench to threaten a law firm's licence is rare; whether the threshold has been met is the question regulators will have to answer.

World Knits enters voluntary administration with 550 jobs in the balance

The Quartier-Militaire textile factory World Knits has been placed under voluntary administration, with the board appointing PwC's Rajeev Basgeet as administrator to avoid outright liquidation. A turnaround plan filed in January had kept the lights on until now.

Around 550 workers are affected. Union negotiator Atma Shanto is demanding an urgent meeting with management and the administrator. Most outstanding salaries have already been paid, the company says, which usually signals a real attempt at orderly restructuring rather than a slow walk to the door.

Textile is meant to be the sector the government is leaning on as tourism softens; another factory shutting would tighten that bind.

Eight in ten businesses now expect inflation above 4% by December

83% of economic operators surveyed by the Bank of Mauritius expect inflation above 4% by December, with the average forecast at 5.3%. It is the worst BoM sentiment reading in months.

PM Ramgoolam told the Assembly the Repo Rate move to 4.75% will add about Rs 1,250 a year on a Rs 500,000 loan. Households feel that first. Businesses pricing higher costs into the year is the part that turns up at the supermarket later.

Constitutional review to consider proportional seats and recall of MPs

PM Ramgoolam set out at the second reading of the Bill what the new commission will study: proportional representation, recall of MPs for serious misconduct, anti-defection rules, and a first Freedom of Information framework.

Fake PMO adviser swindles Rs 382,600 from family chasing social housing

Grand-Baie resident Mahneu Valaven told a 54-year-old saleswoman he was an adviser at the PMO and could sell her a seized NHDC home at Mont-Choisy. The family paid Rs 412,600 in fees. Keys were promised for mid-March. They never came. Police arrested Valaven Monday; he has confessed.

Shorts

National Certificate of Education to be scrapped – Education Minister Mahend Gungapersad says the NCE will soon be abolished.

Mufti Peerbocus bailed in child abuse case – The Flacq court granted bail to Mufti Azhar Peerbocus, who faces six counts.

Hand, foot and mouth alert from health ministry – Schools told to tighten hygiene as cases climb among under-fives.

New rules coming for subsidised food – Trade Minister Michael Sik Yuen says new regulations will crack down on abuse of subsidised products.

Reservoirs down 14.7 million m³ in one year – Water storage is well below the long-term average heading into the dry season.

525,524

tourists arrived in Mauritius in the first four and a half months of 2026, a 3.2% increase on the same period last year, with European travellers dominating.

$1 billion

is what MCB has pledged over four years to finance intra-African trade, its biggest single commitment to the continent so far.

88 days

was the length of Iran's internet blackout, the longest in its history; authorities have started restoring international access this week.

Congo to drop visas for every African citizen from January

President Denis Sassou Nguesso told the African Development Bank annual meetings in Brazzaville that Congo will scrap visa requirements for all African nationals from January 1, 2027.

Congo joins Benin, Togo, Rwanda, Ghana, Seychelles and The Gambia in dismantling barriers to intra-African travel. The push for visa-free movement keeps growing; the AU's old promise of a single African passport now looks less rhetorical.

Vehicle collides with elephant in Ugandan park, killing three

Three people died and others were injured when their vehicle crashed into an elephant inside a Ugandan national park.

Ethiopia's opposition heads into June 1 vote it expects to lose

Ethiopian opposition parties go to the polls on June 1 against an Abiy Ahmed government that took 96% of seats last time and now controls most media outlets.

Belgian train hits school minibus at level crossing, killing at least four

A regional commuter train collided with a school minibus near Buggenhout in East Flanders shortly after 8 a.m., killing at least four people including two teenagers. Seven schoolchildren, an adult and the driver were on board.

Infrabel, which runs the rail network, says the barriers were down and the warning lights were red when the minibus entered the tracks. The train driver hit the emergency brake. Investigators are now trying to work out how the minibus came to be there at all.

Seoul overpass collapses during safety check, killing three workers

Part of a 1966 overpass in Seoul gave way during a safety inspection, crushing workers below; demolition had been underway since August.

US Supreme Court clears the way for Flores' NFL discrimination suit

The US Supreme Court refused to send Brian Flores' discrimination case against the NFL into arbitration, letting the former Dolphins coach fight it in open court.

Mango founder's son steps aside after arrest over father's death

Jonathan Andic, vice-chair of Spanish fashion chain Mango, is temporarily stepping down after being arrested on suspicion of a role in his billionaire father's death. He calls the claims unfounded and distorted.

Isak Andic died in a hiking accident in December 2024. The probe has reopened a story most assumed closed, with the founder's heir now at the centre of it.