Article based on an interview done by Business Magazine about Global Markets and Global Trends with Shezad Suhootoorah, Head of Trading for Global Markets at Absa Mauritius.
1. The financial services sector is at a turning point today, with the need to offer high value-added services for Mauritius to establish itself as a leading financial center. In your view, which strategic levers will be decisive in ensuring the sector’s sustainable growth?
Aligned with the strategic objectives outlined in the 2025/2026 national budget, Mauritius needs to fast-track its development as a leading fintech hub in the region. Institutions like Absa Mauritius have already laid the groundwork, as demonstrated by the various awards earned over the last few years. Further investment in digital innovation will be primordial in driving this transformation.
The country has established itself as an International Financial Center (IFC) and has built a reputation as being compliant, stable, and the only investment-grade nation in the region. Such a status opens numerous doors to attract foreign direct investments via roadshows and investor summits. Compliance is also cardinal, and the country should continue its efforts to strengthen the existing regulatory/compliance standards and foster a culture of good governance in the whole ecosystem. Using its IFC and investment-grade status, the country will likely benefit from being a gateway between Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Our bilingual ability and our strategic geographical location are definite assets in fast-tracking the above goals and increasing cross-border flows.
The ability to provide a hyper-personalised service to market participants has become more than a necessity. In this respect, the country will need to push further into the provisioning of bespoke solutions which are generally more value-added. Some examples may lie in the ESG arena, Islamic banking, and private wealth management.
The country has been experiencing some brain drain challenges and this will also need to be addressed in order to retain the necessary talent to make all of the above possible.
2. Mauritius aspires to strengthen its position as a regional hub for sustainable and impact investment in Africa and beyond. How do you support businesses and investors who use the Mauritian jurisdiction as a springboard to the African continent?
Absa Mauritius is part of a leading Pan-African banking group and supports investors and businesses using Mauritius as a springboard into Africa. We have a strong presence in 12 African markets enabling cross-border transactions via the Pan-African reach and expertise. On the back of our continental coverage, our Global Markets desk provides an efficient and wide suite of African currencies to which businesses may resort depending on their needs. Moreover, our syndicated financing solutions for projects encompass sectors such as infrastructure, energy, agribusiness, healthcare, and financial inclusion across the continent.
We are a strong advocate for sustainable finance and have embedded ESG principles across our operations, facilitating sustainability-linked loans, integrating ESG considerations via Structured Investment Products for our clients as well as partnering with relevant stakeholders to fund projects that deliver measurable social and environmental impact, amongst others.
After all, we are part of an African banking group, drawing on over 100 years of banking experience and deep knowledge of the Mauritian regulatory and financial ecosystem.
3. The 2025/2026 budget highlights digitalization as a key lever of competitiveness. How are digitalisation and automation transforming the bank–client relationship?
The 2025/2026 budget sets the scene for an “Innovative Mauritius” with a heavy allocation of budgeted expenses towards Research and Development, while leaning on AI as a core pillar.
Digitalisation and automation are transforming the bank–client relationship. Instead of relying on legacy systems, Absa Mauritius is embracing innovation to redefine the banking experience. As a matter of fact, the bank has received quite a number of accolades in recent months such as the MEA Retail Banking Innovation Award and the Digital Banker Award, both in 2024. These demonstrate the bank’s commitment to the adoption of digital transformation and to client-centric innovation, with a focus on sustainability.
Our ability to pivot successfully hinges on the new products we develop, which leverage both digitalisation and automation to meet inexorably evolving client expectations. It is important to distinguish between digitalisation (the adoption of digital technologies to improve existing processes) and automation (the use of technology to perform tasks without human intervention). Both work in harmony to enhance efficiency and the ultimate client experience.
While on the path towards being a digital bank, a few questions remain top of mind. How can we ensure inclusivity for segments of the population who are and will likely remain offline? Are we actively pursuing simplification of complex processes? And how do we balance hyper-personalisation with scalable automation, especially when client-facing and front-office roles remain essential? To this end, current automation efforts primarily focus on middle and back-office processes, allowing client-facing teams to concentrate on a more personalised service.
Amongst others, some of the key initiatives recently undertaken that have brought a noticeable transformation in the client–bank relationship have been:
• Spark Platform: This integrated solution consolidates payments via cards, cash, and QR codes into a single platform, offering merchants a real-time view of transactions and automated reconciliation.
• Customer Onboarding: By streamlining the onboarding journey for new clients, the bank aims to improve turnaround time (TAT) by at least tenfold. Seamless online onboarding is achieved through full automation and integration with Central KYC (CKYC), ensuring a faster and frictionless experience.
• CBRD Database Integration: The bank uses API integrations to enable instant customer searches by Business Registration Number (BRN) through the CBRD and CKYC databases, improving the speed and accuracy of client verification for non-retail customers.
• Process Automation via BOTs: Automated bots are deployed to drive efficiencies across multiple processes. For example, the online Digi loan product uses bots to auto-calculate the Debt Service Ratio (DSR) and determine customer eligibility, while easing credit decisions without any manual intervention.
• Electronic FX channels: Our clients are now able to execute some of their FX conversions electronically via our dedicated trading platforms offered by the Global Markets desk.
4. The availability of foreign currency remains a major challenge for the Mauritian economy. What concrete initiatives can a bank like Absa implement to help companies better manage this foreign currency liquidity constraint?
The foreign currency (FCY) liquidity landscape in Mauritius has shown marked improvement since the beginning of the year. As of August 2025, banks purchased USD 700 million more in FCY inflows compared to the same period last year. This is a positive shift, especially considering that for several quarters post-COVID, the Mauritian rupee (MUR) was under significant pressure and exhibited a clear trend of depreciation.
However, with regular Foreign Exchange (FX) interventions by the Bank of Mauritius (BoM) and a rise in local interest rates earlier this year, which have recently outpaced US secondary market rates, the rupee (MUR) has gained more stability. As a result, the prevailing narrative has shifted from "MUR depreciation" to "MUR stabilisation."
Despite this progress, the FCY market remains structurally tight. The days of abundant FCY liquidity, especially pre-COVID, are behind us. Given Mauritius’s status as a net importer, FCY demand remains high, particularly for essential sectors such as food, energy, and pharmaceuticals. Managing access to FCY remains critical.
Absa Mauritius has adopted a multi-faceted strategy to support businesses in managing FCY constraints through both product innovation and strategic market engagement.
The popularity of FX forwards and FX swaps has soared in recent years. FX forwards allow clients to hedge against currency fluctuations and offer a level of certainty in prices. However, this does not really resolve the topic of “availability.” FX swaps, on the other hand, are a liquidity tool where the bank provides FCY to the client upfront and reverses the transaction at a pre-agreed date. This facilitates immediate access to FCY without increasing the bank’s net FX exposure. While FX swaps provide temporary relief, they serve as a liquidity bridge rather than a structural solution to the underlying FCY gap between demand and supply.
Moreover, leveraging its regional footprint and its Pan-African coverage, Absa Mauritius has developed a rugged international interbank network, especially across offshore banks, to tap into FCY liquidity pools. These strategic relationships allow the bank to channel FCY flows into the local market, primarily to support importers and other market participants who have FX needs. These flows are also captured through custom-built risk management solutions.
While FCY challenges persist in Mauritius and despite a marked improvement in the FCY situation in recent months, Absa Mauritius is proactively equipping businesses with the tools and market access needed to navigate this environment. By combining strategic liquidity solutions via hedging and global partnerships, we remain committed to supporting the FCY needs of our clients.
5. Which financial products or services does Absa plan to strengthen in order to consolidate its position in the local market?
To reinforce its market position and deliver greater value to clients, Absa Mauritius is actively strengthening and expanding its portfolio of financial products and services across multiple key areas. The objective is to remain client-centric.
Absa Mauritius is diversifying its range of fixed income instruments, including both sovereign and corporate issuances, with a focus on products that offer regular coupon payments. This move addresses the growing demand from certain investors for stable income streams and broadens access to debt capital markets.
Recognizing the rising need for protection against market volatility and to smooth unexpected fluctuations in operating margins of businesses, we are intensifying efforts to deliver customized hedging solutions for both importers and exporters. These solutions span across multiple asset classes, including FX, Commodities, and Interest Rates.
Our Structured Products desk within Global Markets has also been expanding its suite of both bespoke and standard products while providing varying levels of capital protection, enhanced participation rates, and return upticks. These structured solutions may be linked to indices, commodities, or digital assets, catering to both conservative investors and yield-seeking investors.
To better serve high-net-worth individuals and affluent clients, the bank’s Wealth Management team is prioritizing direct electronic market access across asset classes. This will empower clients with greater control, transparency, and real-time execution on financial markets while streamlining their investment experience.
