Can AI Really Boost Mauritius Exports? EDB Workshop Raises Big Questions

The Economic Development Board (EDB) — Mauritius's main investment and export promotion agency — joined forces with the Human Resource Development Council (HRDC) on 17 September to host a workshop exploring how artificial intelligence and digital tools could help local businesses break into new international markets. The session brought together industrialists, academics, and technology experts, including representatives from Indian IT giant Infosys, the University of Technology Mauritius (UTM), and the University of Mauritius (UoM). The goal: position AI as a strategic lever for exporters to identify buyers abroad, target new markets, and begin building a digital roadmap. On paper, the ambition is sound. AI-driven tools can analyse vast datasets to spot export opportunities, personalise marketing campaigns, and predict demand trends — capabilities that could give Mauritian manufacturers a genuine edge in competitive global markets. But the workshop also threw a spotlight on a stubborn gap between ambition and reality. **The structural problem nobody is solving fast enough** More than 80% of Mauritius's manufacturing businesses are small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Most do not have modern ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems — the digital backbone that tracks inventory, sales, and customer data — and many lack usable customer databases altogether. These are not optional extras; they are the foundational data that any AI algorithm needs to function. In other words, before AI can help Mauritian exporters find buyers in Europe or Asia, many of those businesses first need to digitise their basic operations — a step that itself requires significant capital investment at a time when profit margins are already being squeezed by inflation and rising freight costs. Compounding the challenge is a shortage of skilled professionals in data science and AI engineering. Without people who can implement, manage, and adapt these tools, even well-funded businesses would struggle to extract value from AI platforms. **The Freight Rebate Scheme complication** The article also flags a looming policy shift: the Freight Rebate Scheme — a government subsidy that helps local exporters offset international shipping costs — is set to see its reimbursement rates gradually reduced between 2025 and 2027. For SME exporters already operating on thin margins, this adds another layer of financial pressure at precisely the moment they are being asked to invest in new technology. **What this means** The EDB-HRDC initiative reflects a genuine desire to modernise Mauritius's export sector and keep it competitive in a world where digital tools are rapidly becoming standard. But the workshop's own findings suggest that for the majority of local manufacturers, AI adoption is not yet a near-term option — it is a medium- to long-term aspiration that requires parallel investment in data infrastructure, skills development, and financial support. Without addressing those foundations first, the risk is that AI remains a compelling conference topic rather than a practical tool for the SMEs that form the backbone of Mauritius's manufacturing and export economy. Source: ION News