National AI Learning Platform and AI Innovation Start-Up Programme

This is a Budget 2026-2027 announcement, not a scheme you can apply to yet. Government has committed to building a national platform where Mauritians can follow structured AI training and earn recognised certification, paired with an AI Innovation Start-Up Programme to support entrepreneurs building AI products and services. It sits inside the wider national goal of training 25,000 Mauritians in AI.

The budget allocates Rs 25,000,000 to establish the national AI learning platform. Beyond that headline figure, no grant amounts, subsidy rates or per-person support levels have been published for either the platform or the start-up programme.

Because the rules are not out yet, nobody can say precisely who qualifies. On the training side it is expected to be open broadly to Mauritians wanting AI skills, which would include you and your staff. On the start-up side it targets AI entrepreneurs, but the definition, stage requirements and selection process are all still to come.

There is nothing to apply to today. Keep the budget speech reference (paragraph 30) handy, watch communications from the Ministry of Information Technology, and if AI training for your existing team is the immediate need, use the HRDC levy refund routes that already exist rather than waiting for this platform.