Mauritius bids for key Asia-Africa transit hub status

Mauritius, an island nation some 1,200 miles off the east coast of Africa, is bidding to establish itself as a key hub for Asia-Africa commercial schedules. In late 2015 it signed a memorandum of understanding with Singapore’s Changi Airport to establish an air corridor agreement to link Africa and Southeast Asia. Mauritian prime minister Anerood Jugnauth said the agreement would help “transform [our] island into one of the biggest aviation hubs of the region and to firmly establish the country as the…key of the Indian Ocean. Trade body Enterprise Mauritius said the agreement would be officially inaugurated Q1 2016. It added that it was in the process of negotiating with mainland African neighbour Swaziland “on avenues of cooperation [on an] Air Corridor between Africa and Asia/Southeast Asia.” <br/>