🇲🇺 Mauritius slips out of America's new tariffs as rivals stay taxed

Mauritius slips out of America's new tariffs as rivals stay taxed

Mauritian exporters got a rare piece of good trade news on Friday. Since 24 July, goods heading to the United States no longer face Washington's new import duties, the Mauritius Export Association said. The island now sits outside the latest American tariff wall while rivals such as China, India and Bangladesh stay taxed.

That gap is the whole game. The United States buys about 11% of what Mauritius sells abroad, and the island keeps its preferential entry under AGOA, the American law that lets eligible African economies ship many goods in duty free. For a textile firm scrapping for shelf space, a competitor stuck paying the new levy can be the difference that wins the order.

MEXA director Lilowtee Rajmun-Joosery put the outcome down to months of joint lobbying with the government, aimed at members of Congress and the US Commerce Department. Ministers were quick to claim the win too.

The relief lasts only as long as AGOA does, and that renewal is Washington's call, not Port Louis's.

Rooftop solar grant opens Saturday with Rs 75,000 on offer

From Saturday, a household can claim back a quarter of the cost of a rooftop solar system, capped at Rs 75,000, under a new grant scheme that opens on 25 July. The Rs 270 million behind it comes from the Climate Sustainability Fund flagged in the 2026-2027 Budget.

The Development Bank of Mauritius handles the payouts for the Ministry of Energy, covering systems up to 3.5 kW, with or without a battery. For household weighing whether panels ever pay for themselves, a Rs 75,000 cut to the upfront bill is the figure that tips the maths.

Government heads to the market for Rs 29.6 billion

The state will borrow Rs 29.6 billion through government securities over the next five months, the Bank of Mauritius and the Ministry of Finance said in a notice dated 23 July. The programme runs from short Treasury bills to longer bonds, sold to banks and other investors.

Borrowing on this scale is routine housekeeping. What lenders will really watch is the interest the state has to promise to shift that much paper in one stretch.

Air Mauritius car park falls, 18 years after the warning

Crews have finally pulled down the car park between the Air Mauritius and Rogers buildings, acting on flood safety recommendations that sat ignored for 18 years after deadly flooding drowned the capital. The Rogers car park is next in line.

A fresh trial is ordered over a 2009 crash that killed four

The Supreme Court has ordered a new trial of Constance La Gaieté Company over a 2009 accident that killed four people, after the Director of Public Prosecutions overturned the firm's earlier acquittal on appeal. Sixteen years on, the case starts from scratch.

Shorts

Water bills climb for business users – Cabinet cleared higher water and wastewater tariffs for the island's non-domestic customers.

A 4.8 quake rattles the sea off Mauritius – A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck the Indian Ocean off the island early Friday afternoon.

Ex-minister Balgobin faces police questions – Former technology minister Deepak Balgobin answered questions as a witness in the phone tapping probe.

Man charged with attempted murder of his wife – Police arrested Faizal Mirzane, 49, and provisionally charged him after the Vallée-Pitot attack.

Mauritius Telecom pitches a sovereign AI hub – Mauritius Telecom wants the island to become a sovereign AI hub, its chief executive told developers.

Rs 5.92 billion

the gross foreign direct investment Mauritius pulled over the first quarter of 2026, a sign global money still likes the island.

Rs 25.19

the new price of a litre of diesel across the Seychelles after a second fuel hike this year, unleaded now costs Rs 24.68.

$644 million

handed to the ex-wife of SK Group's chairman by a South Korean court, the priciest divorce settlement the country has ever logged.

A court freezes Ramaphosa's impeachment over Farmgate

A South African court has paused impeachment proceedings against President Cyril Ramaphosa while judges review a report on the Phala Phala affair, the scandal over cash found stuffed inside a sofa at President Ramaphosa's game farm.

Opposition parties dismissed the pause as postponing the inevitable. President Ramaphosa maintains he has a case to answer in the press, not in law.

Mali jails a former spy chief for a coup plot

A Mali court sentenced its former domestic intelligence chief to 15 years for plotting against the junta, a trial where he openly turned on the rulers.

Tunisia's jailed opposition leader is gravely ill

Lawyers for Rached Ghannouchi, 85, say the jailed Tunisian opposition leader is in critical condition after fainting, with family visits barred.

India's students stare down Modi over leaked exams

Youth led protests are spreading across India over leaked exam papers, and activist Sonam Wangchuk has just ended a 26-day hunger strike that had become their rallying point.

PM Narendra Modi has vowed to punish whoever leaked the papers, as the movement, nicknamed the Cockroach protests, keeps pushing for a cleaner route into government jobs.

Irish police defuse a car bomb at the border

Irish police intercepted a highly sophisticated car bomb near the Northern Ireland border and arrested a man and woman.

UNESCO lists West Bank and Lebanon sites at risk

UNESCO added a Lebanese castle and a West Bank site to its heritage danger list; Israel called the move a weaponisation of culture.

Could there be oil under Mauritian waters?

Does Mauritius sit on undiscovered oil? Nobody knows yet, and that is the point. Mauritius and the Seychelles will sign a joint seismic survey deal to map what lies beneath their shared patch of the Indian Ocean.

A multi-client survey spreads the cost across several firms. It is a long way from a working well, but the first serious look at whether the seabed hides anything worth drilling for.

🙏 Merci, à demain! 👋

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