rare that journalists in Mauritius will try to stitch you up like a kipper, UK tabloid-style, but if someone breaks an embargo there is not a great deal you can do about it.

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Since it is such a small market, there is also a fine line between PR and journalism, and a number of journalists work for both domestic and international news organisations, and also as communications consultants. Even myself, while primarily working as a PR consultant, I am also a magazine editor and run a news portal called Platform Africa (www.platformafrica.com).

 

The upshot of all of this is that Mauritius is an extremely familiar place to work in as a PR professional, and it is a land where political correctness has not really taken hold, quite unlike the litigious environments of the US or even the UK. As a woman, I receive plenty of email responses from people in corporate and government circles which say ‘thank you dear’, which is not intended in the least to be patronising, but rather a reflection of the fact that they consider you to be part of the family.

 

2. The storyline matters

Mauritius was first discovered by the Arabs and was successively a Dutch, French and latterly a British colony, and the island has celebrated its 50th Anniversary of Independence this year.

 

There is an overarching storyline about the development of the island upon which the corporate and government sectors broadly agree which goes as follows: “Mauritius has taken huge strides forward over the last 50 years since Independence and, as an island with limited natural resources, this has success has been achieved by hard work, determination and the skills of its people. Mauritius is a multicultural melting pot and a strategic partner for Africa and is entering a new phase as a hub for quality investments and innovation in the region. It is now on the road to becoming a high-income economy. It is not a tax haven.”

 

If you are crafting a PR campaign, therefore, the more you can do to prove the Mauritian storyline, the better it will be received. I recently launched a new exchange on behalf of a UK technology firm where we ensured that the client’s press release and media interviews focused on how Mauritius was emerging as a sophisticated and innovative financial centre for Africa. The launch message pressed all the right buttons, and it received substantial coverage in both business and mainstream media.

 

3. Colour matters

In Mauritius, colours have strong political and religious connotations. You can have the most brilliant messaging in the world, and the perfect storyline, but you need to be careful when it comes to the use of colours on your client’s exhibition panels, website or press pack. You may find yourself sending quite unintended messages by inadvertently using the colours associated with the main political parties, namely orange (MSM, now leading the coalition government), red (Labour Party, in opposition) or mauve (MMM, in opposition), while the colour green is associated with Islam.

 

One fail-safe fallback position when it comes to colour is to use the four colours of the Mauritian flag, which is represented by four horizontal bands of red, blue, yellow and green. This is what we recently advised to a foreign diplomatic mission which was preparing an exhibition to be opened by the Prime Minister during the 50th anniversary celebrations, and it was a hit.