AFD Group Extends Green Financing to Banks in Mauritius
On 25 April 2025, the AFD Group signed several agreements with banks in Mauritius to provide them with more #GreenFinance. The signature ceremony took place at the Labourdonnais Hotel in Port Louis in the presence of Mauritius Junior Minister of Finance Dhaneshwar Damry and French Minister Delegate for International Partnerships Thani Mohamed-Soilihi.
The AFD Director General Rémy Rioux and the AFD Mauritius Country Director Laetitia Habchi, as well as representatives of various banks and stakeholder organizations, were also in attendance. The Chief of the EU Diplomatic Mission, Oskar Benedikt, and the French Ambassador, Frédéric Bontems, also graced the event with their presence.
AFD, Proparco and Expertise France will join hands to provide both financial and technical support to Mauritius in order to accelerate its #GreenTransition. The financing will help Mauritius in meeting its Nationally Determined Contributions (#NDC) in the fight against #ClimateChange and in line with the #ParisAgreement sealed at #COP21.
| No | Recipient | Amt M€ |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | State Bank of Mauritius | 45 |
| 2 | MauBank | 39 |
| 3 | Bank of Mauritius | 1 |
| 4 | Mauritius Bankers Association | 1 |
| 5 | Business Mauritius | 1 |
| TOTAL | 87 |
The lines of credit are destined to finance projects which can demonstrate some climatic attenuation or adaptation component. Minister Damry highlighted four principal axes for action, notably water resources, renewable energy, waste management and coastal erosion. AFD underscored its successful involvement in projects that promote the circular economy, energy efficiency and solar energy.
For this new wave of Green Financing, another EUR 87 million (MUR 4.5B) was added to the pot. In a previous round, AFD allocated €66M and €53M to ABSA Mauritius and the Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB) respectively under AFD’s #SUNREF program. The Central Bank of Mauritius, known as the Bank of Mauritius, as well as all banks regrouped under the Mauritius Bankers Association (MBA) and the Private Sector represented by Business Mauritius all received grants to build up their institutional capacity in terms of #SustainableFinance.
The Mauritius International Finance Center (#IFC) ambitions to become a shining example for #SustainableFinance and to consolidate its leadership position as a Financial Hub for Africa. As such Finance Minister Damry expressed the wish for the setting up of the branches of a French Investment Bank and a Private Wealth Management Bank in Mauritius in the near future.
Currently, France is the largest source of #FDI into Mauritius, the largest source market for tourists and is one of the largest trade partners of Mauritius. There are more than 170 French companies operating in Mauritius and nearly 20,000 French expatriates are living in Mauritius.
French President Macron was scheduled to make a stopover in Mauritius as part of his tour of the Indian Ocean, but had to cut short his itinerary in order to attend the funeral ceremony of Pope Francis. However, the Elysée indicated that the state visit to Mauritius might be reprogrammed for November 2025.