Mauritius' economy is forecast to expand 5% this year, slower than an 8.7% growth in 2022, due to a lower expansion of the manufacturing sector, its statistics office said on Friday.

The manufacturing sector was expected to grow 3.5% compared with 10.4% in 2022, Statistics Mauritius office said in a statement. It did not give a reason why the sector had shrunk.

The Indian Ocean island, which markets itself as a link between Africa and Asia, is striving to move from an economy mostly focused on sugar, textiles and tourism towards financial services, manufacturing, business outsourcing and luxury real estate. (Reporting by Villen Anganan; Writing by George Obulutsa; Editing by James Macharia Chege)