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Can you sit on a board there?
Pick a market. You get the residency test, the nationality test, the work-authorisation position, the appointment steps in order, and the frictions that actually delay appointments — each cited to the instrument that creates it.
Choose a market
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Board-level residency testMU
No nationality test applies to you. A Global Business Company must have two Mauritius-resident directors — which is precisely why a professional-director market exists here.
- Residency test
- At least two directors resident in Mauritius for a Global Business Company, under the FSC's substance requirements. It is a company-level obligation and it is the engine of the local director market.
- Nationality test
- None.
- Work authorisation
- A non-resident director attending board meetings requires no permit. Residing and working in Mauritius requires an occupation or residence permit, for which there are established routes.
- Board language
- Board process is in English, which removes the language barrier that applies across francophone Africa.
- Tenure limit once appointed
- No statutory cap. The National Code asks boards to assess independence substantively each year and to address long tenure in the board evaluation.
- Time commitment
- Global Business Company boards typically meet quarterly in Mauritius; listed and bank boards carry a heavier calendar.
- What a seat pays
- Modest in absolute terms; a professional-director practice is built from a portfolio of Global Business Company and fund boards rather than from a single seat.
- Tax on your fees
- Directors' fees are Mauritian-source income; the tax position for a resident director differs materially from a non-resident's, and Mauritius's treaty network is central to why the structures exist.
The appointment steps, in order
- 1Consent to act and filing of the appointment with the Registrar of Companies
- 2For a Global Business Company, confirmation that the board continues to satisfy the FSC's resident-director and management-and-control requirements
- 3For a licensed entity, FSC approval of the appointment following a fitness and propriety assessment
- 4For a bank, Bank of Mauritius approval before the appointment takes effect
What actually gets in the way
- The resident-director requirement is what creates the market, and it also means a non-resident cannot fill those particular seats
- Management-and-control substance means board meetings must genuinely be held in Mauritius for Global Business Companies
- Board process is in English, which removes the language barrier that applies across francophone Africa
- Treaty-shopping scrutiny of Mauritius structures has raised the standard of governance evidence a board must be able to produce
The instruments behind these answers
- Companies Act 2001 — Governs Mauritian companies, including directors' duties, board procedure and shareholder rights. It imposes no nationality requirement on directors. (Republic of Mauritius)
- FSC substance requirements for Global Business Companies — Require a Global Business Company to be managed and controlled from Mauritius, including having at least two directors resident in Mauritius of sufficient calibre to exercise independence of mind and judgement. (Financial Services Commission, Mauritius)
- National Code of Corporate Governance for Mauritius 2016 — Apply-and-explain across eight principles covering board composition, structure, directors' duties, risk, reporting and stakeholder relations. Asks for a unitary board including at least two independent directors and an independent chair. (National Committee on Corporate Governance)
- SEM listing rules and FSC rules for regulated entities — Impose board composition, committee and disclosure requirements on listed companies and on licensed financial-services entities, including audit and corporate-governance committees. (Stock Exchange of Mauritius and the FSC)
Reviewed against primary sources in September 2026. This is governance decision-support, not legal or tax advice. Rules change and transitional provisions frequently apply — verify against the primary instrument before you rely on it.
Eligibility is only the first question
Being allowed to sit on a board there is not the same as being read for one.
The mobility index answers the second question: whether your record is legible to a board in that market, whether you hold what it is currently short of, and whether you can do the job in the language its board works in.