What the Economic and Financial Measures (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026 means for investors and technology founders

Mauritius’ Economic and Financial Measures (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026, introduced in the National Assembly on 24 July 2026 to implement the Budget Speech 2026–2027, proposes two measures that could reshape how foreign capital and talent enter Mauritius: a statutory AI City Scheme and the country’s first golden visa. If enacted, the measures would establish a dedicated legal framework for AI-focused investment, while creating a new pathway to long-term residence for high-net-worth investors.

Both measures arrive just as the Bill tightens the conventional occupation permit routes, and that timing is no accident. Taken together, the message is a deliberate pivot from volume to value: fewer small-ticket residents, more strategic capital.

The AI City Scheme: a hub with its own rulebook

The Bill inserts a new section 14AA into the Economic Development Board Act, creating an AI City Scheme whose stated objects are to establish a specialised technological and innovation hub and to attract investment in artificial intelligence, digital sectors, advanced computing infrastructure and advanced manufacturing. Any person — or “AI founder” — wishing to undertake a project applies to the Economic Development Board (EDB) for an AI City Scheme Certificate.

The certificate carries an unusually strong form of words: holders “shall be entitled,” notwithstanding any other enactment, to prescribed fiscal and non-fiscal incentives, duty exemptions and tax concessions; expedited processing of occupation, work and residence permits through the EDB; facilitated acquisition or lease of immovable property; and other regulatory facilitation. 

For technology businesses accustomed to permit timelines being the slowest part of a Mauritian setup, the express immigration fast-track is likely to be the headline attraction.

Two design choices stand out. First, the process is strikingly light: unlike the existing Premium Investor Certificate — which passes through a technical committee, the EDB Board and ultimately the Minister — an AI City application is decided by the EDB alone, with no statutory minimum investment. Secondly, the Bill deliberately sets out the framework and leaves the detail such as qualifying activities, the incentives themselves and the property rights, to be prescribed. 

Once the Bill becomes law, the EDB should be expected to publish guidelines fleshing out these details, together with the applicable reporting and compliance requirements, as it has done for the Premium Investor Scheme and the occupation permit regime. Prospective applicants would do well to position themselves now, so as to move quickly once the guidelines issue.

The golden visa: USD 1-million, 20 years

The second innovation is a “golden visa”, issued under the Passports Act on the recommendation of the EDB. The visa itself is only the entry ticket; the substance lies in what follows. A holder who invests an aggregate of at least USD 1-million within 12 months of issue, in any business activity other than the acquisition of residential property under the EDB property schemes, becomes eligible for a 20-year permanent residence permit.

The exclusion of residential property is significant. Mauritius continues to offer residence to buyers under the EDB property schemes at USD 375 000, but that permit is tied to the asset: it remains valid only for as long as the buyer holds the property. The golden visa, by contrast, is aimed at productive investment in operating businesses, and leads to a permanent residence permit of fixed 20-year duration. 

A parallel new route offers the same 20-year permit to “AI founders” investing at least USD 1-million under the AI City Scheme — a clear signal as to the profile of resident the country now courts.

The other half of the story

These openings should be read against the closures elsewhere in the Bill. The USD 50 000 investor occupation permit route is abolished, leaving USD 100 000 as the entry point; the professional salary threshold rises from approximately USD 630 to USD 1 050 per month (Rs 30 000 to Rs 50 000); and the 10-year family occupation permit disappears altogether. 

The architecture is coherent: the accessible routes narrow while new high-value channels open above them. Businesses and individuals who might once have entered through the lower thresholds will need to plan more carefully, while those with USD 1-million to deploy have never had clearer options.

What to watch

Three things will determine whether these schemes deliver. First, the regulations: the AI City Scheme’s qualifying activities, incentives and property rights, and the golden visa’s application machinery, all remain to be prescribed. Secondly, governance: whether the EDB’s guidelines import the compliance framework — reporting, clawback, published beneficiaries — that disciplines the Premium Investor Scheme. Thirdly, commencement: the Bill is not yet law, and several related provisions come into force only by Proclamation.

For now, investors and founders eyeing Mauritius would do well to begin structuring conversations early. The doors are being built. When they open, the well-prepared will walk through first.

Submitted by Boolell Advisory Mauritius