PGP Research Team: Mauritius’ Digital Cooperation and Engagement with External Partners
Against the backdrop of an increasingly multipolar world and the rapid pace of digitalization, this research project explores the extent to which, and how, Mauritius, as a small island state, is able to exert agency when partnering with major digital powers. Within Africa, Mauritius constitutes a particularly interesting case due to its domestic digital ambitions, its digital partnerships with various external actors, and its strategically important location in the Indian Ocean.
Project Lead:
Benedikt Erforth
Hangwei Li
Kasenally, Roukaya (University of Mauritus)
Project Team:
Bilal Akhter
Franziska Feldhahn
Josephine Laudemann
Leon Lewin
Lasse Nordmann
Maximilian Schulze
Keshyana Ackiah (University of Mauritus)
Financing:
Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Time frame:
2024 - 2025
/
ongoing
Co-operation Partner:
University of Mauritus
Project description
Mauritius, an island nation in the Indian Ocean, has strategically positioned itself as a hub for digital innovation and technology in Africa. The country’s digital strategic plan for 2030, describes the digital transformation as no less than “an economic and societal obligation”, and outlines Mauritius’ aspirations to position itself as a regional and global digital leader. In recent years, the country has sought to bolster its digital infrastructure, governance and capabilities not at last through partnerships with major powers such as China, India and the European Union. To understand the agency of Mauritius amid multipolar competition and assess whether the country can effectively leverage its position to advance and shape its digital partnership agenda, we follow a sequence of inquiry: First, we investigate the specific interests Mauritius aims to pursue in its digital partnerships with external actors. Secondly, to what extent it is able to safeguard and assert those interests. Finally, we aim to understand Mauritius’ (in)ability to exert agency within the current multipolar international order, which presents both challenges and opportunities for small states.
Employing a within-case approach, the research team will conduct semi-structured interviews with diverse stakeholders, including politicians, government officials, NGOs, representatives of international digital/telecommunication companies and civil society organizations journalists and scholars, to provide insights into Mauritius’ role and agency in shaping its digital partnerships. The research team works in cooperation with partners at the University of Mauritius.