Mauritius and France Advance Ties with Series of Agreements During Macron’s Visit
Historic Visit
From 20 to 21 November 2025, French President Emmanuel Macron was on an official visit to Mauritius as part of his African tour. Actually, the visit was originally scheduled to take place earlier this year, but was postponed as Macron wished to attend the funeral of the Pope at the time.
The visit was highly symbolic and historic and occurred more than thirty years after that by President Mitterand in 1993 who came to Mauritius to attend the 5th Francophonie Summit. The visit also took place some 310 years after the French first took possession of Mauritius and renamed it Isle de France in 1715.
Strong Ties
France is the largest source of #FDI into Mauritius and the largest source market for tourists visiting the paradise island, with more than a third of tourists originating from France, including a sizeable proportion from neighboring Reunion. More than 10,000 French expats live in Mauritius, while some 16,000 Mauritian expats live in France.
Based on 2024 statistics, France is also the 4th largest buyer for Mauritius, behind South Africa, Madagascar, and the United States of America. France is the 5th largest supplier of Mauritius, behind China, UAE, India, and South Africa. Overall, the bilateral trade volume between Mauritius and France was EUR 634 million in 2024.
Mutual Recognition
As per protocol, he met with the President of Mauritius Dharam Gokhool and the Prime Minister of Mauritius Navin Ramgoolam. During his passage at the Presidential Palace of Le Reduit, Macron was elevated to Grand Commander of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean, which is the highest rank of honor in Mauritius. During the same ceremony, President Macron conferred the Grand-Croix of the Legion d’Honneur to Prime Minister Ramgoolam.
New French Embassy
On 21 November 2025, President Macron also officially inaugurated the new French Embassy in Telfair, Moka. Previously, the Embassy was in old Port Louis, and the space was becoming too crowded as the relationship is growing.
Energy Transition
The French Development Agency (AFD) signed a cooperation agreement to support Mauritius in its #EnergyTransition. Mauritius aims to achieve at least 60% of renewable energy in its energy mix by 2035, although the initial target was more ambitious. The Electricity Company of France (EDF) will provide technical assistance to the Central Electricity Board (CEB) of Mauritius to enhance the electricity generation and distribution capabilities. AFD will provide EUR 700,000 under FEXTE (Fonds d’Expertise Technique et d’Echanges d’Experiences) as technical assistance for capacity building in upgrading the electricity system.
In that regard, the AFD is also providing a loan of EUR 40 million, while the EU is providing a grant of EUR 10 million to support the greening of the grid. In addition, the AFD is supporting financially the partnership between the State Bank of Mauritius (SBM) and QAir to deploy more #PV systems with storage.
Water Security
The AFD will provide EUR 200 million and a grant of EUR 2 million to ensure sustainable water management in Mauritius. A special consideration is being given to the Outer Island of Rodrigues, which is particularly susceptible to drought. The fund will go toward upgrading the water storage and distribution capacity in order to meet its present and future needs.
Food Security
Macron announced deals for France to supply wheat to Mauritius, where the French baguette is a tradition and an institution. In particular, Soufflet Negoce and InVivo sign a sales and purchase agreement (SPA) to supply Les Moulins de la Concorde with high-quality cereals.
On the other hand, the Mauritius Sugar Syndicate (MSS) renewed its SPA with Cristalco agreement for another three years to supply white refined and special sugars to the French market.
Francophone Education
The Minister of Education Mahend Gangapersad and the French Ambassador in Mauritius Frederic Bontems signed a Memorandum of Understanding to promote the use of the French language in the education system in Mauritius. During a pilot phase, a select number of schools will experiment with using French as the medium of teaching, along with either English or Creole.
In terms of technical and vocational training (#TVET) , the Mauritius Chamber of Commerce and Industry renewed its contract in order to deliver the BTS (Brevet de Technicien Supérieur) at its business school. Similarly, the Lycée Labourdonnais and l’Académie de La Réunion also signed a cooperation agreement to promote French education at the secondary level.
Geolocalization
Exagone will open the Teria network for geolocalization applications to Mauritius. As part of the deal on the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), France will install six geolocalization reference points, known as Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS), across Mauritius, thanks to an agreement with the Ministry of Lands of Mauritius.
Blue Economy
The cooperation accord on the Blue Economy covers several areas, including oceanic studies & exploration, marine biotechnology applications, and aquaculture/mariculture. Both France and Mauritius have some of the largest Exclusive Economic Zones (#EEZ) in the world. Mauritius thus welcomes the expertise of France to extract economic benefits from its EEZ. and to protect its marine biodiversity.
Maritime Security
The French Navy is present in the Indian Ocean Region via FAZSOI (Forces Armées de la Zone Sud de l’Océan Indien). Mauritius also participates in the naval exercise Atalanta. Thus, an accord was signed to reinforce the partnership in the domain of #MaritimeSecurity with an emphasis to control Illegal, Unregulated, and Unreported (#IUU) fishing. President Macron also took the opportunity to visit Le Champlain ship which was docked in Port Louis during his visit.
Plastic Pollution and Circular Economy
He also visited the ship Plastic Odyssey which is touring the world to promote awareness on plastic pollution and to promote the circular economy around the world.
AI4Good
President Macron also toured an exhibition by various organizations involved in propagating #AI technology in Mauritius. He paid particular attention to student groups who are growing up with this disruptive technology and are learning to apply AI for good (#AI4Good).
Tromelin
Both sides acknowledged that the sovereignty over Tromelin remains a pending issue to be resolved. Macron noted gladly that the Tromelin issue is not acting as a brake to cooperation in other areas. In the past, a co-management deal was signed before its ratification was halted in the French Parliament.
Indo-Pacific
President Macron highlighted the key position of Mauritius within France’s vision of the #IndoPacific. The relationship has so many layers: historic, cultural, linguistic, ecological, technological, and the geopolitical dimension is certainly a key aspect during these tumultuous times.