Fraudulent and corrupt practices of the Danish firm BWSC within the framework of the redevelopment project of the St Louis power station, motivated this decision. According to AfDB, evidence in all likelihood confirms that BWSC, among other things, financially rewarded members of the Mauritian administration and others, through third parties, for gaining access to confidential information related to calls for tenders, which enabled it to adapt the technical specifications to its offer, thus obtaining an unfair competitive advantage over the other bidders.

Before the AfDB communicated this sanction on Monday, the parent company of BWSC in Denmark had also already taken the lead in this case. In its 2018 annual report, in the chapter Risks and risk management - business integrity, the Danish company writes that, of the two denunciations for corporate behavior in 2018, one of the two internal investigations was the subject of an in-depth investigation which resulted in the dismissal of five employees in February 2019, for violating BWSC's code of conduct.

Also in the annual report, we can read: “While Denmark is perceived as the least corrupt country in the world on the corruption perceptions index, BWSC operates in parts of the world with lower business integrity levels, where corruption and bribery occur. BWSC does not tolerate unlawful behavior and a whistleblower system and other procedures are in place to follow up on misconduct within the organization.”

Moreover, from February 6, 2019, BWSC, to save its image, explained in a press release how it started an investigation into this case which does not honor Mauritius. It states that it was after receiving an anonymous tip from a whistleblower in April 2018, regarding agreements and contracts entered into in violation of the law with local entrepreneurs in Africa, that an internal investigation was been opened. To avoid any doubt, the BWSC also launched an external investigation and engaged the law firm Poul Schmith (Kammeradvokaten).

The investigation concluded that BWSC's Code of Conduct was violated and a possible breach of law occurred. Nikolaj Holmer Nissen, Chief Executive Officer of the Danish firm, said at the time: “BWSC has zero tolerance for any type of business practice that violates the company's code of conduct or involves criminal actions. This is why we immediately asked an external law firm to carry out an in-depth study and on their recommendation, we reacted quickly. We expelled five employees who were involved in these actions. In addition, two persons have been reported to the Danish police, as the investigation gives reason to suspect that criminal actions have occurred, including corruption (...)”

Moreover, the AfDB's Office of Integrity and Anti-Corruption, responsible for preventing, deterring and investigating allegations of corruption, fraud and other sanctionable practices in operations financed by this bank , specifies to recognize the important cooperation of BWSC within the framework of the investigation.

It comes back to us that the board of directors of the CEB, under the presidency of Seety Naidoo, candidate defeated in the last legislative elections and, who as of December 6, had been reinstated in his post of Chairman of the parapublic by its leader, the Minister of l Energy Ivan Collendavelloo, had been informed by BWSC of a case of misdeal in Mauritius. "Why did the CEB not see fit to ask the anti-corruption commission to investigate then?" ask for advice on this file.

It is especially good to recall the outlines of this project "tied up from the start to favor the Danish firm", as a whistleblower had said on September 26, 2014, and reported extensively, since, in these same columns. Funded by the AfDB for an initial amount of Rs 3.5 billion, the project which includes the installation of four generators of 15 megawatts each, had seen BWSC as the sole bidder following an initial call for tenders launched on July 24, 2014. Except that the Central Procurement Board (CPB) had then considered the offer of the Danish firm inadmissible.

In November 2014, on the eve of the general elections, the CEB canceled the offer with the approval of the AfDB. On December 9, 2014, BWSC asked the Independent Review Panel to review this decision. On July 3, 2015, the IRP canceled this request. BWSC then sought a judicial review of this decision before the Supreme Court. In a statement to Parliament on October 24, 2017 on the St. Louis power plant redevelopment project, Ivan Collendavelloo admitted that when he took office after the December 2014 election, "one of the first files on my table was that of the Saint-Louis Power Station Redevelopment Project”.

The Minister of Energy also claimed that he asked the CEB to launch a second tender after he learned of the IRP's decision. This was done in July 2015 and we saw the CPB approve the award of the contract to BWSC. A contract signed on March 2, 2016 and which went from Rs 3.5 billion to Rs 4.3 billion. The CEB was then under the chairmanship of Seety Naidoo, while Gérard Hébrard was its general manager.

To a question from Paul Bérenger, leader of the opposition at that time, in Parliament, the Minister of Public Services and Energy, Ivan Collendavelloo, had thus justified the difference of Rs 700 million: “The new price with compliance with specifications for 66 megawatt capacity is Rs 4.3 billion. I am advised that the difference in costs is attributed to change of technical specifications by the CEB; correction of deviation leading to rejection of first tender; higher rating of units by 10%, and market conditions prevailing.”

With the data already available to the AfDB and BWSC, the Mauritian authorities should at the time already be in the presence of the names of those who have benefited from bribes from the Danish firm. Their actions in the face of this scandal are closely monitored. Especially since Mauritius is in full operation Damage Control since the European Commission placed it on the list of countries presenting a financial risk due to strategic shortcomings in the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism. Already, our calls to CEB Acting Director General Shamshir Mukoon yesterday went unanswered.