Mauritius’ National Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Incubator Scheme will become operational this month, aimed at assisting young Mauritians in turning their innovative ideas into successful businesses.
The scheme – the launch of which was announced by Minister of Finance and Economic Development Pravind Jugnauth in the 2016/2017 Budget Speech – will operate as a public-private partnership with accredited private business incubators.
The private sector groups will initially invest in infrastructure and facilities, as well as managing the centre and providing mentoring, marketing and other support services to incubatees. This support will be provided over a two-year cycle in three stages: pre-incubation, incubation and acceleration.
The Mauritian government will share the cost of the operation and support services with the business incubators, while a steering committee has been set up under the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development to accredit business incubators approve disbursement of government funds.
Project applications from potential incubatees will be evaluated by a panel of independent experts.
