While the island is a beacon of stability and relative prosperity, Pope Francis honed in on the struggles of the youth, who face growing inequality, unemployment and the scourge of drug abuse. "It is a hard thing to say, but, despite the economic growth your country has known in recent decades, it is the young who are suffering the most. They suffer from unemployment, which not only creates uncertainty about the future, but also prevents them from believing that they play a significant part in your shared history," said the pope. "Let us not allow those who deal in death to rob the first fruits of this land," he said, referring to drug dealers.
According to a Mauritius Drug Observatory report in 2018, the smuggling and use of drugs such as heroin, cannabis, cocaine and methamphetamine, has grown in recent years. He continued this theme in a later address at the presidential palace, warning that the country's system of economic growth sidelined the young.
Since independence in 1968, Mauritius has developed from a poor, agriculture-based economy, to one of Africa's wealthiest nations and financial services hub.