Dr Rama Krishna Sithanen was appointed Governor of the Bank of Mauritius with effect from the 16th of November 2024 for a three-year term. He was also appointed Chairperson of the Financial Services Commission, Mauritius, on the 11th of December 2024.
Dr Sithanen is an economist by training and profession. His professional career of around 46 years is split among public sector, private sector and international consultancy and advisory work.
He has acquired strong leadership skills and wide-ranging experience in the public sector and as a professional economist holding senior positions in the private sector. He has significant experience in policy making, operations and advisory work in economics, finance, global business and the financial services sector both in Mauritius and in Africa. He has acted as an international consultant, working in Africa and the Indian Ocean, advising Governments and public sector bodies on economic and fiscal policies.
Dr Sithanen was Minister of Finance between 1991 and 1995. He was instrumental in shaping policies to diversify the economy and laid the foundation for the emergence of Mauritius as an international financial centre.
He was Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Finance between 2005 and 2010. He introduced bold institutional, policy and fiscal reforms that turned around the economy and moved Mauritius from dependence on trade preferences to global competitiveness. He also implemented meaningful economic and financial measures to protect the Mauritian economy from the adverse impact of the great recession of 2008.
He worked as Director of Strategy at the African Development Bank in Tunis, Tunisia, in 2011. Between 2011 and 2016, he was Chairperson and Director of International Financial Services, one of the largest management companies in Mauritius, engaged in providing fund administration and corporate services for capital market and private equity/venture capital funds to global corporates and institutions.
Between 2017 and 2022, Dr Sithanen was Chairperson and Director of Sanne Mauritius, a large management company that provides fund administration and corporate services to international corporates and institutions. From 2023 to the 15th of November 2024, he was the Independent Chairperson and Director of the Apex Group of companies in Mauritius. Apex Group is the leading provider of global businesses in Mauritius.
He has acted as adviser to some countries in Africa and the Indian Ocean. He was Chairperson of the Rwanda Development Board, the economic development arm of the Government of Rwanda, between 2013 and 2017. He was adviser to the Government of Rwanda and tax, competitiveness and financial services issues between 2013 and 2015. He was equally Board Director on some companies.
Dr Sithanen was chosen by the Switzerland-based World Economic Forum in 1994, as one of the 100 Global Leaders for Tomorrow for contribution in both the public and the private sectors at the age of 40.
In 2009, he was bestowed with the title of Grand Commander of the Star and Key (G.C.S.K.), the highest mark of distinction of the Republic of Mauritius, for his contribution in the economic and political fields.
Dr Sithanen holds a BSc Economics (with First Class Honours) and an MSc Economics (with a Mark of Distinction) from the London School of Economics and Political Science. He also has a PhD in Political Science from Brunel University, London, UK.
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