Purpose: The purpose of this study is to contribute to research on knowledge management in higher education institutions (HEIs), by studying the enablers and barriers to knowledge management in a country with a developing higher education sector, Mauritius. Design/methodology/approach: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with senior staff in the main public and private HEIs in Mauritius. Questions focused on knowledge management, including relevant barriers and enabling factors to knowledge creation, knowledge sharing and knowledge transfer. Findings: Although participants were able to discuss knowledge management, none of the universities had a knowledge management strategy. Moreover, more barriers than enablers to knowledge management were identified. Barriers included: a lack of policies and reward mechanisms, resources, data, funding and time for research, coupled with frequent leadership changes, a lack of a knowledge-sharing culture and research repositories and weak industry--academia linkages. Enablers were perceived to be: qualified and experienced academic staff in public HEIs, information technology (IT) infrastructure and library/digital library and some incentives for knowledge creation and transfer. Originality/value: Previous research on knowledge management in universities has focused on countries with a relatively well-developed higher education sector. This research contributes by focusing on the perceived barriers and enablers to knowledge management in a country with a small and developing higher education sector.