The Mauritian real estate sector has, for a few years, been implied in the field of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The setting up of a CSR fund, which has become compulsory in 2009 following a law passed by the Mauritian government, represents a consequential source of financing social and environmental projects which are launched by several Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) and by aid programmes.
How does the CSR work?
In order to understand the CSR, it is very important to underline that its guidelines are difficult to apply as the three key elements of the fund’s management are the gouvernment, the private sector and the civil society, with close collaborations of NGOs. The issue is, in fact, finding common denominators between these three sectors which do not show the same interests. As from 2009, the Mauritius Employers’ Federation (MEF) has created the National Corporate Social Responsibility Committee (NSCRC) so as to promote the project in Mauritius. Being against this law in the first hand, as the MEF considered that this criterion of obligation violated the very basics of CSR, whose initiatives are “positive and voluntary in various fields, such as social, economic and environmental, and going beyond legal obligations» (The MEF Newsletter, n°12, 2009)), it finally showed its adhesion. Launched in 2016, the National Corporate Social Responsibility Foundation has replaced the NSCRC and will, as from now on, supervise the management of part of the investment collected.
The unique character of the Mauritian system
The unique character of the Mauritian system is that, apart from being compulsory, the CSR fund must be used according to a book of requirements. As a matter of fact, companies have to finance specific social development zones, and if this target is not reached, the fund would be allocated to the tax authorities. The main action sectors in Mauritius, as set by the 2016-2017 Budget, are :
- Health problems linked to the abusive use of drugs and to sanitary deficiencies;
- Educational aids to families listed in the Social Registry of Mauritius;
- Families and domestic violence-ridden families;
- The reduction of poverty and the development of social housing for families listed by the Social Registry of Mauritius;
- Assistance to heavily-handicapped persons.
The Budget has also modified the investment scales and companies have, as from now on, contributed up to 50 % of their funds to the CSR Foundation (i.e. 2% of the taxable income) instead of the announced 75%. The remaining amount will be managed by companies according to their own privileged CSR project.
The environmental involvement of the real estate sector
When it comes to the real estate sector, the contributions may be multiple but the focal element globally remains the promotion of “green building initiatives” and of “sustainable buildings”. In the book Corporate Real Estate Asset Management: Strategy and Implementation, Barry P. Haynes and Nick Nunnington refer to these ecological buildings which can reduce the side effects on the infrastructures themselves, on their natural environment and, more widely, at the regional and international levels. The real estate sector, therefore, contributes to the CSR environmental initiatives by reducing wastes and gas emissions, which will consequently decrease organizational costs. Another aspect of CSR is also to maintain a good reputation so as to gain more clients and to provide a good work environment to the employees. A survey, carried out by Gensler in 2006, has pointed out that real estate managers believed that 20% of their usual consumption could be saved if buildings were made with an energy-saving perspective (up to approximately million pounds sterling per annum). As for real estate developers, they consider that they could save around 155 million pounds per annum.
Some CSR projects in the Mauritian real estate sector
The Mauritius real estate sector has been involved in the RES (Real Estate Scheme) since 2007, two years before the promulgation of the 2009 law, through 22 Integrated Resorts Schemes (IRS) projects. The latter have to follow requirements set up by the government. Among other features, these projects, built on agricultural lands belonging to sugar estate owners, must offer an ecological design and must be situated in socially deprived regions. The level of poverty of these regions are calculated by the Relative Development Index (RDI) which uses variables such as access to water and electricity, the housing conditions, the level of education and the unemployment rate of the regions’ dwellers. With the aim to ensure a balanced sharing of the neighbourhood by luxury house buyers and the poverty-stricken inhabitants, the Mauritian government asks for the submission, of a territorial social development project (in order to promote physical and social infrastructures) by all IRS investors.
Major real estates groups are actively involved in CSR in Mauritius, such as Azuri which has chosen to become a partner of corporate training, specifically by sponsoring 7 professional workers to attend a training of the Foundation on Coastal and Marine Habitats of Mauritius (proposed by the Reef Conservation NGO). The group thus aims at “valuing marine environment towards sustainable development” and is already contemplating a new sponsorship. As for the Rogers group, it is involved in the Valriche Villas social aid project and has organised, on the 6th of May, a job fair. The target is to promote employability among the inhabitants of Bel Ombre. Already a partner of the Bel Ombre Foundation For Empowerment, Valriche Villas are also stakeholders in the development of the southern region of the island.
Many other groups have devised their CSR projects, proving that the Mauritian real estate sector cares about human development and social well being.
