I have it on good authority that the first-ever World Bank mission to Mauritius in 1962, just a few years before the country became independent, had delivered a devastating verdict: “This country exudes an air of hopelessness” This was the view of Jean Baneth, World Bank Mission Chief, who was then working on India and had been sent to do a quick diagnosis of the Mauritian case.
He was not alone in his negative judgment of the country. V.S. Naipaul, acclaimed novelist and commentator, had also delivered an equally scathing verdict after a short visit to Mauritius in 1967.