As France's newest département, Mayotte has to meet the population's expectations while complying with new standards (national common law and European standards). The archipelago needs to make up ground in terms of infrastructure and the efficiency of its public utilities (distribution of drinking water, electricity, waste collection and treatment). It also needs to boost the proficiency of the teams responsible for these utilities. 

AFD supports local community investments for urban development work throughout the territory.

Faced with an ever-increasing demand for electricity (more than 10% a year), securing production and distribution is a major challenge for Mayotte's economic and social development. 

AFD is helping the Mayotte electricity company (EDM) increase its production capacity and extend its transport and distribution network. This included funding an extension to the Longoni power plant.

The economic fabric of Mayotte includes several large companies that by themselves contribute more than a third of the département's overall revenue, while around a thousand microenterprises and SMEs provide the remaining two thirds. Small businesses typically employ very few employees and are relatively unstructured.
 
AFD supports them with their development and with the professionalization of the sector. Our work includes: 

• assisting the creation and the development of small companies. We are working with the Association pour le Droit à l’Initiative Economique (ADIE) to provide microenterprises with easier access to credit. In 2016, we also funded this association's first impact assessment on the territory, to enable it to adapt its work to Mayotte's unique characteristics;
• promoting external trade: Mayotte's size and geographical location mean that regional trade is vital. It therefore requires modern port facilities adapted to international trade. For this reason, AFD is funding the development of the port of Longoni, the island's economic lifeblood, and the upgrading of facilities to enable easier loading, unloading and storage of goods and containers.

Mayotte has experienced great demographic change: its population has tripled since 1985, passing the 200,000 mark in 2012. The département is now home to France's youngest population: more than six out of ten of its inhabitants are under 25 years of age.  

But the archipelago still faces poverty (38% of its inhabitants) and its demographics give rise to social challenges: the island is facing a shortage of health, social and medico-social provision and structures.
 
To improve the population's living conditions and promote social inclusion, AFD supports local players in the health and housing sectors:

• The Mayotte Hospital, the only one on the island. Faced with an increase in its activity, AFD is supporting its expansion through the creation of a new hospital on the island of Petite-Terre;
• The Mayotte Real Estate Company (SIM), the main public player in social housing, with the aim of increasing the supply of rental accommodation;
• The Mayotte Guarantee Fund (FGM), for which we manage the "Social housing" section, to facilitate access to home ownership for Mayotte's inhabitants.

The "Island in the Lagoon" is a real biodiversity hotspot. Its coral reef is also one of the world's largest and most spectacular. 

But this exceptional natural heritage is under threat, from global warming (rising sea levels, coral bleaching) and proliferation of invasive exotic species, but above all from human activity, which causes pollution on land and in the sea, destruction of natural habitats and overexploitation of resources.

To preserve this ecosystem, AFD manages the sustainable management program for the natural heritage of Mayotte and the Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean, funded by the European Union. We collected data with which to develop relevant indicators on the health status of fish populations and coral reefs. The resulting diagnoses will be used to improve management of the natural heritage, particularly in the marine parks of Mayotte and the Glorioso Islands.