Port Louis, July 15: Mauritius is plunging into the high-tech world of information technology with plans to turn itself into a "cyber island" paradise linking Asian software expertise with Africa. A so-called cyber city is emerging amid green mountains near the capital Port Louis, built on the sugar plantations that for centuries formed the foundations of the Indian Ocean island's economic success.
The government sees the 150-acre (60-hectare) city as the first of a new generation of state-of-the-art knowledge parks. It will include a multi-media zone, business zone, knowledge centre, a hotel and a residential and recreational complex.
Taking advantage of its location - 4,000 km (2,500 miles) east of South Africa - the island aims to bridge the information gap by linking Asian computer know-how to African countries, through an underwater fibre-optic cable link.
Linking Africa and Asia

Information technology or IT plays an increasingly important role in Africa's health, education and creation of economic opportunity for the poor, says IT Minister Deelchand Jeeha.
"It is no longer a matter of choosing between penicillin and Pentium," he says. "It is now more a matter of choosing the most effective way for IT to transform Africa into an engine for economic growth and better provider of welfare for its people."
In 2000 Mauritius was connected to the South Africa Far East (SAFE) Submarine Fibre-optic Cable Project, which will eventually link the island to Malaysia, South Africa, and then onwards to West Africa and Europe and bring high-speed connectivity.
"Through the cyber city project, we want to forge triangular co-operation involving India, Mauritius and Africa to develop synergy and facilitate Africa's march towards an e-economy," Finance Minister Paul Berenger told a conference earlier this year.
However, with a population of 1.2 million, Mauritius has a shortage of qualified manpower. Critics are concerned that all the jobs will go to foreigners coming in to make "quick money" with local people exploited and forced to do low skilled jobs for long hours to bring in foreign exchange.
Bureau Report