The World Bank in Mauritania

Mauritania is essentially a desert country, with vast expanses of pastoral land and only 0.5% of arable land. The population is about 4.8 million (2021), and the density of 4 inhabitants per square kilometer makes it one of the least densely populated countries in the world. Further, more than half of Mauritanians live in urban areas (56%) (2021).

Political Context

Mauritania political cycle will end by mid-2024. Prime Minister Mohamed Ould Bilal, who took office in August 2020, has been leading the implementation of President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani’s Programme prioritaire élargi du Président de la République. The Program integrated the response plan to the COVID-19 pandemic and focuses on resilient recovery.

Economic Overview

• Growth accelerated from 2.4% in 2021 to 5.2% in 2022 supported by higher exports on the demand side, and the expansion of the agricultural sector on the supply side. In 2023, economic growth is projected to decelerate to 4.5%, driven by lower growth in the extractive industry, resulting from lower production of iron ore and gold, as well as lower agricultural output. The annual average inflation reached 9.5% in 2022 and is expected to decrease to 8.0% in 2023, as external pressure on prices subsides.
• The overall fiscal balance registered a deficit of 3.5% of GDP in 2022 compared to a surplus of 2.2% of GDP in 2021. The debt to GDP ratio remained stable in 2022 and around 49%. The January 2023 joint IMF/WB’s Debt Sustainability Assessment suggests that the risk of overall and external public debt distress is moderate, down from high in the previous DSA, thanks to a recent debt restructuring and continued improvement in fiscal risk management. The fiscal deficit is expected to decrease to 2.3% of GDP in 2023, supported by lower current expenditure, whereas debt to GDP ratio should slightly increase to 49.6%.
• The current account deficit is estimated to have widened to 13.9% of GDP in 2022, up from 8.1% of GDP in 2021, due to high energy and food import prices, and lower export prices. The deficit is expected to be financed by Foreign Direct Investment in the extractive industry and concessional borrowing.

Medium-Term Outlook

The medium-term outlook is broadly favorable but subject to downside risks. Growth should average 6.2% of GDP in 2024-2025, with the onset of gas production in 2024, and a scale up of public investment. The fiscal deficit is expected to gradually narrow as revenue collection improves and spending related to energy subsidies decreases. Average inflation is expected to gradually fall to 5% by 2025, as international commodity prices drop. Risks to the outlook include a protracted Russia war in Ukraine with additional negative spillovers on real, fiscal, and external sectors. Sustained high oil and food prices, combined with volatile commodity exports prices pose additional risks that could slow down economic activity and increase food insecurity. Regional insecurity in the Sahel is another source of risk. Mauritania is also exposed to recurring cycles of droughts resulting from climate change and that impact agricultural output and household income.

Social Context

COVID-19 negative impacts on the economy had repercussions on the labor market and on the living conditions and well-being of the population. Poverty is estimated to have increased due to the pandemic, reaching 6.3% in 2022.

According to Mauritania’s Human Capital Index (HCI), a child born today will only achieve 38% of his/her productivity in adulthood. Expected years of school adjusted for effective learning are 4.2 years per child on average, while 23% of children are stunted, against a background of relatively low public spending on health and education. Social Assistance spending is high for the region (7.5% of GDP), and the existing safety nets programs reach 47% of the poorest quintile of the population - one of the highest coverages in the region. (Also see ‘Results’ section.)

Last Updated: Mar 20, 2023

The World Bank Group undertook its first development project in Mauritania in 1963, with the financing of MIFERMA, a multinational mining enterprise. Since 1985, this partnership has been gradually expanded. Currently, the partnership is guided by the 2018 Country Partnership Framework (CPF), reviewed in 2021 and which objective is to support the creation of conducive conditions for sustainable and inclusive growth.

Under the CPF framework, and aligned with the Government’s development priorities, the World Bank Group's support in Mauritania focuses on Infrastructure (Energy and Digital), Agriculture, and Private Sector development, along with building Human Capital. The Bank’s portfolio in Mauritania currently comprises one budget support operation (the last of a series of three); nine national projects; and seven regional projects, for an overall commitment of $803 million.

Growing commitments are expected with a pipeline of new operations in agriculture, education, health, energy, digital, and statistics. The commitments of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, totaled $113 million, while the gross commitments of the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) amounted to $300 million as of February 28, 2023.

Last Updated: Mar 20, 2023

COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout

The World Bank has successfully contributed to Mauritania’s COVID-19 vaccination efforts by providing additional financing to Mauritania’s COVID-19 Strategic Preparedness and Response Project amounting $40 million to enable affordable and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines to 66.4% of the total population. Mauritania is one of the countries with the highest vaccination rate in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Local Government Development Program

As a continuity of the National Integrated Support Program for Decentralization, Local Development, and Youth Employment (PNIDDLE), the Decentralization and Productive Intermediate Cities Support Project contributes to the development of selected intermediate cities in the South and East and technical support to the decentralization process. It is financed with $66 million from the International Development Association (IDA), and support totaling $5 million from the State budget. The project directly impacts (i) the population of the cities and surrounding rural areas of Rosso, Kiffa, Selibaby, Aioun, and refugees and host communities of the M’bera Camp, Bassikounou, Nema, and Adel Bagrou will get improved access to urban services or electricity from renewable energy sources; (ii) over 140 formal enterprises and 11,000 informal and social actors will have improved access to infrastructure and services to grow their businesses; and (iii) staff and elected representatives of local institutions whose capacity will be reinforced.

Breaking the Cycle of Intergenerational Poverty

The Social Safety Net System Project supports the government’s social protection strategy aimed at protecting poor and vulnerable households and investing in their human capital, breaking the cycle of intergenerational poverty. The project supports three key instruments:

• The Social Registry, launched in 2016, seeks to support the identification of potential beneficiaries and provide an efficient, transparent mechanism for targeting the poor and vulnerable. In 2022, more than 190,000 households were included in this register. More information: http://www.rs.gov.mr
• The National Social Transfer Program, Tekavoul, is a conditional cash transfer (CCT) program, targeting households in extreme poverty. The five-year cycle consists of quarterly cash transfers conditioned on beneficiaries’ participation in social promotion activities designed to increase knowledge of essential family practices (Pratiques Familiales Essentielles, PFE) and investment in early childhood development (ECD). The program currently supports 70,000 beneficiary households, including 47,000 supported by the Social Safety Net project. All households selected from the Social Registry benefit from the Tekavoul program through project funds with annual payments of MRU 6,000 (approx. $160). More information: http://www.tekavoul.gov.mr/
• Since 2017, the shock-responsive safety net program, Elmaouna, has provided support to several thousands of households experiencing food insecurity during the period preceding the harvest. 65,000 vulnerable households during the 2022 lean season are benefiting from it and a Tekavoul vertical and horizontal extension pilot project.

Promoting Women’s Empowerment in the Sahel

The Sahel Women's Empowerment and Demographics Project (SWEDD) aims to boost the level of empowerment of women and adolescent girls and expedite demographic transition in the region. The project targets girls aged 10 to 19 at a higher risk of early marriage and motherhood and supports them through a package of evidence-based, age-appropriate interventions to end harmful practices, improve their life skills, keep them in school, and boost their earning potential. The Mauritania SWEDD received a total of $77 million in financing, with $2 million coming from the State budget and $60 million from an IDA grant.

Supporting the resilience of pastoralists and agro-pastoralists in the Sahel

The Regional Sahel Pastoralism Support Project (PRAPS) stemming from the Nouakchott Declaration (Oct. 2013) addresses key drivers of vulnerability of (agro)pastoral populations in the Sahel to strengthen their resilience through interventions improving animal health, natural resources management, livestock value chain development, and social and economic inclusion targeting particularly women and youth. The livestock sector is critical to the economy, rural development, and poverty reduction, contributing between 14-16% of GDP in Mauritania. More than 1.35 million persons are expected to benefit from the second phase of the project (2022-2027) in the country, totaling $45 million of IDA financing. An additional financing amounting to $42 million to PRAPS-MR was also approved in June 2022 to support short-term recovery and scale up resilience interventions in the face of the severe food insecurity situation. This will benefit at least 326,000 people in the targeted area, i.e., the southern border strip with Mali.

Last Updated: Mar 20, 2023

Mauritania receives external financial assistance from various external organizations such as the African Development Bank, European Union, United Nations, bilateral donors, and the International Monetary Fund. It also receives financial assistance from Arab funds and China.

Last Updated: Mar 20, 2023