The Island country of Mauritius is looking to join the list of African countries partnering with Russia. The country, according to reports seems eager to leverage its partnership with the Eastern superpower, which paid off last year. This comes at a time when Russia’s influence across the continent appears to be on a meteoric rise.
In April 2023, Mauritius’s ambassador to Russia, Heswar Janke, relayed to the Russian news publication Sputnik of Russia’s contribution to the growth of his country.
He noted that in light of the rapidly changing global landscape, Russia has grown in prominence as a “player” for the is for the small island country.
Recently, the Russian Ambassador to the country Konstantin Klimovsky revealed to the media that despite pressure from the West, Mauritius is committed to deepening its ties with Moscow.
“Despite the pressure from the collective West, Mauritius is still determined to actively develop bilateral cooperation based on the traditional friendly relations between our countries,” he said.
To this effect Mauritius is looking to initiate the use of the Russian Mir payment cards, Konstantin Klimovsky disclosed.
“The Mauritian authorities really have such plans,” the Russian ambassador added.
The ambassador also revealed that it’s too soon to determine if using Mir cards to make payments there would be feasible as early as 2024. Although the card is now accepted in nine countries, its use is restricted in six of those nations.
According to Sputnik, Mauritius and Russia collaborate in the following industries, fishing, oceanographic research, seafood processing, marine transportation, information technologies and telecommunications, energy; higher education, culture, and sports.
The envoy underlined Mauritius’s participation in the second summit between Russia and Africa. He said that the trip consisted of officials from many ministries and organizations and was led by the ambassador of Mauritius in Moscow.
