Implementing Vision 2050 in an Era of Polycrisis

Editorial

Engineering Our Destiny

History has a way of coming full circle. In the 1990s, Rundheersing Bheenick piloted Vision 2020. It was a seminal moment that helped in the transformation of Mauritius from a fragile, sugar-dependent monoculture into a diversified, service-oriented economy. Today, as we stand at the threshold of 2026, the launch of the national consultations for Vision 2050 is another welcome and important initiative. It signals a return to the strategic foresight necessary to chart a course through an era of ‘polycrisis’ — where climate change, ageing demographics, and artificial intelligence redefine the global landscape.

For the first time in a generation, the nation is being invited to lift its gaze from the immediate, often suffocating pressures of the next fiscal cycle to imagine the landscape of the country three decades hence. This return to long-term strategic planning is far more than a bureaucratic exercise; it is a necessary correction to a decade of “short-termism” that threatened to erode the nation’s fiscal stability, institutional integrity, and collective hope.

However, as we embark on this ambitious 25-year journey, we must confront a sobering global reality: the world is littered with “Vision” documents that have gathered dust on many shelves. A strategic framework, no matter how intellectually rigorous, is merely a wish list without a robust engine of implementation. If Vision 2050 is to succeed where other global planning exercises have faltered, it must move rapidly from a “government project” to a “national pact,” owned by every stakeholder and insulated from the vagaries of political cycles.

In the years that followed Vision 2020, the vital function of economic planning was “drowned” within the Ministry of Finance. While the merger may have seemed efficient on paper, the reality was that the long-term “architectural” view of the country was sacrificed at the altar of the immediate “accounting” view. Short-term political calculations began to overshadow long-term development responsibility.

By re-establishing a dedicated Ministry of Economic Planning, the current government, led by Dr Navin Ramgoolam, has signalled that “wisdom has prevailed.” Under the leadership of Minister Jyoti Jeetun, the state is reclaiming its role as an “enabler” and “architect of destiny.”

The Implementation Gap

While the vision focuses on three pillars — Prosperity, Durability, and Inclusion — we must address the “implementation gap” that haunts governments across the globe, including our own. The history of public administration is often a history of “great intentions met by poor execution.”

The bottlenecks are well-documented and must be sorted out before the first brick of the 2050 framework is laid:

1. Bureaucratic Inertia: Public sectors are often designed for stability, not agility. In an era where AI and Fintech evolve monthly, a three-year procurement cycle for digital infrastructure is a recipe for obsolescence.
2. Siloed Governance: National goals are frequently diluted because Ministry A does not communicate with Ministry B. Vision 2050 requires a “whole-of-government” approach where policy coordination is seamless.
3. The Budgetary Mismatch: There is often a disconnect between long-term strategic goals and the annual budgetary allocations. Implementation begins with ensuring that the money follows the vision, not the other way around.

To overcome these, the government must identify and eliminate these bottlenecks immediately. Implementation cannot be treated as the “final stage” of the process; it must be baked into the consultation and drafting phases themselves.

For Vision 2050 to survive the inevitable changes in government over the next quarter-century, it must be owned by all stakeholders. This is the challenge of the four-month consultation period. From the students at the University of Mauritius to the tech entrepreneurs in Ebène, from the fishers in our coastal villages to the high-achieving diaspora in London or Silicon Valley, the vision must be a mirror in which every Mauritian sees their own future reflected.

The Prime Minister’s call to “Be Bold, Be Inclusive, and Be Future-Focused” is the right rhetoric, but it must be matched by a mechanism that ensures the private sector and civil society are active partners in delivery. When the private sector sees a stable, 25-year roadmap, it gains the confidence to invest in high-value, high-risk sectors like the Blue Economy, renewable energy, and medical sciences. Without this “partnership of trust,” the vision remains a government monologue rather than a national dialogue.

Strategic Imperatives for 2050

As the consultations begin, several non-negotiable priorities have already emerged from the policy communiques.

1. The Human Capital Revolution: We are entering an era where human cognition itself is on the “obsolescence curve” due to AI. Our education system must move away from rote learning toward critical thinking, creativity, and digital fluency. With an ageing population and a “brain drain” that sees our brightest talents seeking horizons elsewhere, Vision 2050 must make Mauritius a “talent magnet.” This means not just higher wages, but a higher quality of life.
2. Sovereignty and Resilience: As a small island state, we are on the frontlines of climate change. Vision 2050 must be a “Green and Blue Vision.” We must accelerate the shift to renewable energy and move toward circular, sustainable agriculture to reduce our dangerous dependence on food imports. Security in 2050 will be measured by our ability to protect our lagoons, our soil, and our healthcare systems from external shocks.
3. Institutional Integrity: A vision is only as strong as the institutions that protect it. The document outlines a need to reclaim the independence and professionalism of our public institutions. This means reinforcing checks and balances and ensuring that meritocracy — not cronyism — is the engine of the state. When institutions are fair and predictable, national confidence grows, and investment follows.

Minister Jeetun poignantly noted that while the government focuses on the year 2050, many citizens are deeply concerned about “20 heures 50” — the immediate, daily struggles of making ends meet. This is the ultimate test of the project. If the 2050 strategy does not provide a credible pathway to better wages, affordable housing, and a more just society today, it will lose the public’s heart before the ink is dry.

The vision must bridge the gap between the macro-economic “leap” and the micro-economic “struggle.” It must promise that the child entering primary school today will inherit a nation that is “Secure and Sovereign” — a lighthouse of democracy where a person’s life trajectory is determined by their talent and hard work, not their origins or connections.

From Dreaming to Doing

The launch of Vision 2050 is a bold declaration that Mauritius refuses to be a “boat on an unpredictable ocean,” carried by currents it does not choose. It is an act of “engineering destiny” rather than “managing decline.”

However, the most difficult, taxing, or substantial part of the task does not end with a successful launch at the Octave Wiehe Auditorium. The real work begins in the “sectoral round tables” and the “digital platforms for participation.” We must identify the implementation bottlenecks — be they legal, financial, or administrative — and clear them with the same “spirit of hard work” that saw our parents transform this island from a $200 per capita economy to the upper-middle-income nation we are today.

We have the vision. Now, we need the relentless discipline to execute. The next generation is watching, and the clock to 2050 has already begun its countdown.

Mauritius Times ePaper Friday 19 December 2025