The Government of Mauritius launched its E-licensing Platform, entitled “E-Licensing: Transformational initiatives to enhance the business environment", on Thursday 10th May 2018. The project which was initially announced in the Budget 2016/2017, aims at enhancing the doing business and investment climate and contribute to economic growth, and is co-funded by the European Union as part of the latter’s partnership with Mauritius under the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).

With the E-Licensing Platform, applications for business licences will be submitted, processed and approved online. The platform will allow for the electronic issue of permits and it will be possible to pay fees online. The platform will act as a single point of entry for all business permits and licences, and also as a central repository for such documents. Access to licensing procedures will be improved in terms of transparency and less bureaucracy.

In sum, the E-Licensing Platform will bring important advantages in terms of reduced time and cost in the processing of applications. It will also allow applicants to check the status of their application remotely, through any device. Increased predictability will certainly be seen as an advantage for the investor in his decision-making.

The first phase of the National E-Licensing System has come into operation in August 2018 and the project is expected to be fully in place within three years’ time.