Mohammed Shaffick HAMUTH
Team Leader
The team at Mauriconsult is led by Mohammed Shaffick Hamuth, a former Senior Investment Advisor and Manager of the Board of Investment of Mauritius, now renamed as the Economic Development Board (EDB). The EDB is the government’s national investment promotion agency. Shaffick Hamuth, an economist by profession, has had the opportunity to work in progressively responsible positions in various departments at the then Board of Investment. He is well-grounded in the essence of all economic sectors and is fully conversant with the numerous legislations and government policies pertaining to immigration, investment, business facilitation, dealing with local authorities, regulations on property acquisition including IRS, RES, PDS and now Smart Cities, aquaculture, renewable energy and agribusiness, among others.
He has strong working knowledge of various business permits, licenses and clearances, pre-requisites for project startups, and has developed an excellent professional network across the public sector, parastatal bodies, local authorities and private entrepreneurs. He has also been directly engaged in the delivery of more than 5,000 occupation/residence permits to expatriates, including both investors and professionals, in his capacity as Officer-in-Charge of the Occupation Permit Unit, which he helped set up back in 2006. Furthermore, he has assisted in the implementation of various projects such as hospitals, hotels, recycling industries, textile and non-textile manufacturing units, dairy farms, fish farming, agro-processing, Freeport operations, ICT/BPO companies, real estate projects, etc.
As part of his responsibilities, he participated in major policy decisions on government budgets, policy reform papers, and legislations/regulations to streamline and simplify the business environment. His contribution has been instrumental in improving the ranking of Mauritius in the Doing Business Report of the World Bank from the 49th position in 2007 to the 17th place in 2010 as well as winning Top Reformer Awards and attracting higher FDI inflows during the period 2004 to 2011.
He also provided valuable input in the drafting of strategic reports, investor profiling and targeting, market surveys, analysis and other similar research work. He has acted as BOI Newsletter editor and helped produce other promotional materials such as leaflets, brochures, magazines, economic reports, sector analysis and film scripts for the Board of Investment, as well as official speeches for the Chairman, the Managing Director, Ministers and even the Prime Minister and the President of the Republic. He indeed has a strong command of business and journalistic writing.
Shaffick has also worked on World Bank assignments relating to the performance of the manufacturing sector. He holds an MSc in Public Policy and Management from CeFiMS, University of London and a BA Economics & Political science from University of Baroda, India as well as a diploma in Editing and Journalism from London and from Mumbai, India.
He has acted as Editor of News on Sunday, a local English language weekly, and as Business/Economic Writer for Le Défi Media Group. His writings have had the merit to influence the economic policy of the government. He is a guest writer for a number of publications, including Diplomacy and Beyond (India) and Africa Global.
Shaffick is a serial entrepreneur with wide experience in start-ups and he is also an active member of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and the Honorary Editor of Handicap Universel (www.handicapuniversel.com), a newspaper promoting disability rights.