DAWOOD AULEEAR
The villain is gone for much much less than the 50 million tainted Euros that Sarkozy allegedly received from dictator Ghadafi. The press will stick its head in a prominent place in its hall of fame. The West will still roll the red carpet to Sobrinho who still has to be found guilty of any charges. We will go on welcoming banks whose seed money originates from slavery or opium and boast of our vibrant financial sector. Sit by a banker, still a bit high on pre-dinner drinks, enjoying his brandy and cigar after dinner and you will be at a loss to find one financial hub where the actors sell bibles.
After the head has fallen, I thought we would call it a day. No. Not in Mauritius. She is still the bull’s eye. Have we at any time thought how we could have avoided washing our dirty linen in public to save us from the embarrassment of world public opinion?
I have heard that investors using Mauritius to raise funds for investment in Africa are now increasingly bypassing our jurisdiction. A prospective investor in our economy with a portfolio of one billion Euros was asked by his African partners whether it was not a folly for him to put his money in Mauritius. For God’s sake, can we for a moment stop and think how we could have spared ourselves the damage we have inflicted on ourselves by opting for a mature way of making the lady « lev paket ale”. The Herculean task awaits us all: how are we going to regain world confidence?