AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER Mauritius 2010 Executive Summary Since independence in 1968, Mauritius has developed from a low-income, agriculturally based economy to a middle-income diversified economy with growing industrial, financial, and tourist sectors. The annual growth of this tropical paradise has been steady at the rate of 5 to 6 percent per annum. This remarkable achievement is reflected by more equitable income distribution, increased life expectancy, lowered infant mortality, and a much-improved infrastructure. The economy is dependent on sugar production, tourism, textile manufacturing, clothing, and in recent years on financial services. Sugarcane is grown on about 90% of the cultivated land area and accounts for 15% of export earnings. The country is expanding into fish processing, information and communications technology, and hospitality and property development The government’s development strategy centres on creating vertical and horizontal clusters of development in these sectors. Mauritius has attracted more than 32,000 offshore entities - many aimed at commerce in India, South Africa, and China. Investment in the banking sector alone has reached over $1 billion. Mauritius, with its strong textile sector, has been well poised to take advantage of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). In line with the flourishing economy, the media industry has also grown in size and diversity over the last decade and is accessible and affordable throughout the country. In all three sectors – print, electronic and broadcasting - there are a wide variety of media products to choose from. The Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation has one television station and 6 radio stations - MBC Radio Maurice, MBC Radio Mauritius, MBC Kool FM, MBC Taal FM, MBC Best FM (recently launched) and MBC World Hit Radio. MBCTV runs the following television channels: MBC 1, MBC 2, MBC 3, the Knowledge Channel and MBC Movies Channel. In October 2010, Prime Minister Dr Navin Ramgoolam launched the Mandarin Channel, Marathi Channel, Tamil Channel, Telugu Channel, Urdu Channel and the Tourism and Culture Channel. It is very likely that a Bhojpuri channel will soon be launched. The three private commercial radio stations operating in Mauritius are Radio Plus, Radio One and Top FM. There are no community radio stations in Mauritius. AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER MAURITIUS 2010 5