Following MITCO Group’s recent acquisition by Fidence Group, a forum entitled “The Art of Value Creation” was held yesterday, bringing together Cornelius Bechtel, Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Fidence, Frédéric Cuguen, Regional Managing Director of CW Partners in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Switzerland, and Mahen Govinda, CEO of MITCO Group (Mauritius and Seychelles). The acquisition marks a new chapter in MITCO’s international development, with the group seeking to leverage Fidence’s presence across Luxembourg, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, Mauritius and Seychelles. In the interview that follows, Mahen Govinda explains how the expanded platform will strengthen the group’s international reach while positioning Mauritius as a key hub for governance, wealth creation and investment across the Europe, Middle East and Africa region and beyond.

■ The forum outlines a shift from simply adding jurisdictions to enhancing coordination between them. As part of Fidence Group, how does MITCO connect its Mauritian base with major financial hubs like Luxembourg and Dubai to eliminate cross-border governance risks?

The real opportunity created by MITCO becoming part of Fidence Group is not simply that we can point to more jurisdictions on a map. It is that we can coordinate those jurisdictions around one client relationship and one governance framework. That is the fundamental shift.

Mauritius brings our established regulated corporate, fiduciary and fund-services capability and provides a strong gateway into Africa and Asia. Luxembourg brings European corporate, fund, accounting, tax and governance capabilities, while Dubai adds private wealth, family-office access and cross-border advisory. The proposition presented at the MITCO Forum is therefore “one relationship, multiple jurisdictions, coordinated governance.”

For the client, this should mean fewer fragmented handoffs and greater consistency in oversight, documentation, reporting and compliance. The objective is not to eliminate the inherent legal or regulatory risks of operating internationally. It is to manage those risks through stronger coordination and accountability.

The promise of Fidence is simple: international capability without losing personal accountability. That is where I believe Fidence differentiates itself. We start with the client’s commercial, investment or family objective and bring together the most appropriate expertise around it.

■ Fidence positions Mauritius as a heavily regulated hub focused on ‘Governance as a Service’ and fund administration. How is MITCO actively driving this shift to transition Mauritius from a traditional gateway into a centre for pure enterprise value consolidation?

For MITCO, Mauritius has always been much more than a jurisdiction through which investments pass. Our ambition is to position Mauritius as a platform from which international enterprises, investment structures and family wealth can be governed, administered, consolidated and ultimately enhanced. MITCO’s value proposition is built around three interconnected pillars: Governance as a Service, Enterprise Value Consolidation and Shareholder Value Optimisation. The presentation also positions Mauritius as MITCO’s regulated base for corporate, fiduciary and fund services within the wider Fidence platform.

Enterprise Value Consolidation is particularly important. International groups increasingly need more than company administration. They need reliable financial and fund accounting, coordinated regulatory reporting, visibility across structures and jurisdictions, and governance capable of supporting decision-making.

By combining MITCO’s Mauritius platform with Fidence’s international capabilities, we can place governance around the different drivers of enterprise value. In that sense, our role is not simply to administer structures. It is to become a custodian of the architecture through which value is protected, consolidated and ultimately unleashed.

MITCO’s role is evolving from administering structures to becoming a custodian of the drivers of enterprise, shareholder and family wealth value.

■ With a projected 65% growth in African millionaires over the next decade, your presentation emphasises a Dubai-Mauritius corridor. How does combining a UAE commercial layer with Mauritian holding and compliance frameworks offer the ideal structure for these emerging market flows?

I see Dubai and Mauritius as highly complementary rather than competing financial centres. Our Forum presentation illustrates a model in which the UAE can provide the commercial, advisory, structuring and regional execution layer, while Mauritius can provide regulated corporate, fiduciary, fund, governance and reporting capabilities. It illustrates, for example, regional enterprises combining a UAE commercial layer with Mauritius holding and reporting structures, as well as fund sponsors combining international investor access with Mauritius administration and governance.

That becomes particularly relevant as private capital, entrepreneurial wealth and investment activity expand across Africa, the Middle East and Asia. The principle I would emphasise, however, is commercial rationale first, jurisdiction second. We should not begin with a Mauritius company or a Dubai entity and then try to fit the client into it. We begin with the investor, family or enterprise: where the capital originates, where it is being deployed, what governance is required and what commercial purpose needs to be achieved. We can then identify the appropriate jurisdictions and structures, subject always to the relevant legal, tax, substance and regulatory considerations. Dubai can connect the opportunity; Mauritius can help govern the architecture around it.

■ Group CEO Cornelius Bechtel stresses that global scale should widen capabilities without making service feel distant. With nine distinct financial service lines now under one roof, how do you ensure clients retain direct accountability through a single named partner?

This is one of the most important principles behind the Fidence model: greater scale must not create greater distance from the client. Fidence brings together capabilities across corporate administration, accounting, tax compliance and coordination, governance and domiciliation, fund administration, family office, payroll, compliance, and restructuring and liquidation.

At the same time, the Forum presentation expressly places a named partner at the centre of the relationship, someone who knows the structure, answers directly, coordinates specialists and stays with the relationship as the client’s requirements grow. That distinction matters. Clients should not have to navigate our organisation simply because our organisation has become larger.

Our model is therefore one relationship accessing multiple capabilities. Specialists can be brought in from Luxembourg, Geneva, Dubai, Mauritius or Seychelles depending on what is required, but the accountability to the client remains clear. For me, that is what “founded on trust and driven by care” should mean in practice: international capability delivered through a relationship that remains personal, accountable and responsive.

■ MITCO anchors the Group’s Indian Ocean strategy through its operational presence in both Mauritius and the Seychelles. How do you coordinate the unique international corporate services of the Seychelles to complement Mauritius’ regulated fiduciary framework?

Mauritius and Seychelles give Fidence a complementary Indian Ocean platform. Mauritius is MITCO’s headquarters and regulated base. MITCO has been licensed as a Management Company by the Mauritius Financial Services Commission since 1993 and supports corporates, funds, institutional investors and private clients. Seychelles complements that platform through MITCO’s operational presence providing corporate services for the administration and accounting of Seychelles international business companies and other jurisdiction-specific vehicles.

The value comes from using each jurisdiction for the role for which it is appropriate, rather than treating jurisdictions as interchangeable products. Within Fidence, that Indian Ocean capability then connects to Luxembourg, Geneva and Dubai. The result is a much broader proposition: European capability through Luxembourg, private wealth and advisory connectivity through Geneva, Middle Eastern and international structuring through Dubai, and corporate, fiduciary and fund-services expertise through Mauritius and Seychelles.

So, our Indian Ocean strategy is not about Mauritius versus Seychelles. It is about Mauritius plus Seychelles within a wider international architecture, coordinated around the client’s purpose with appropriate governance and oversight.