L’ex-banquier et diplomate Siva Palayathan (photo) est décédé mercredi soir entouré de sa famille. Siva Palayathan était aussi un collaborateur et un grand lecteur de l’express, et il nous envoyait ses réflexions sur la finance et l’Afrique. «Africa has been given all sorts of names for all sorts of reasons. Once known as the Dark Continent, it was also treated as the ‘Hopeless Continent’ by the Economist magazine. The same magazine revised its opinion a decade later to dub it as the ‘Rising Continent’. In November 2013, the influential President of the African Development Bank, Mr Donald Kaberuka, raised the African profile by portraying Africa as ‘the sleeping giant which is on its way’, and the African trajectory continues upward, with a young and dynamic population», écrivait-il dans son dernier article, titré : «Mauritius and Africa: Reflections on our business model». Il insistait : «Entrepreneurs should look for joint venture, private equity and venture capital routes in areas of core competences.»

Son ami Ramesh Basant Roi, ému, nous a fait la confidence suivante : «Siva was a well-mannered person with a pleasant disposition. He had served the BoM as an economist in the mid-1970s before moving to other local financial institutions and international organization. In his writings, he displayed refined intellect. Diligent and, after all, a refined and distinguishable character. Once you made friend with him you could make out that you were in for principled friendship. We shared memorable experiences. I am saddened by his demise.»

Les funérailles ont eu lieu hier à Circonstance, St-Pierre. L’express présente ses sympathies à la famille du défunt, son épouse et ses deux fils.