Publication: Islamic Republic of Mauritania : Financial Sector Development Strategy and Action Plan 2013-2017
Loading...
Published
2013
ISSN
Date
2013-10-03
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
The financial sector comprises all institutions and agencies that are involved in financing the economy, mobilizing savings, managing risks and providing means of payment. In view of the importance of the services rendered, the financial sector constitutes the footing of development of the national economy. Economic growth, private sector development, job creation and poverty reduction depend on a sound, efficient and vigorous financial sector. In its efforts to develop the financial sector and enable it to effectively support the development of the national economy, the Government of Mauritania has sought the support of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Accordingly, under the Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP), a joint International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank mission conducted a study on the financial sector in Mauritania in February 2006. The study analyzed the financial performance, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of the sector institutions, and level of access to financial services. As at 31 December 2012, the financial sector comprised: (a) a Central Bank; (b) 17 licensed banks and financial establishments ; (c) 30 licensed microfinance institutions (MFI) and a project , (d) postal financial services ; (e) 11 insurance companies; (f) 2 social security schemes, with an institution, the National Social Security Fund (CNSS); and (g) 31 licensed foreign exchange offices. The total assets of these institutions stood at about UM 520 billion (about USD 2 billion). There is a nascent money market (treasury bills market and interbank market). There are no stocks and bonds market. Banks dominate the sector with nearly 93 percent of total assets.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“World Bank. 2013. Islamic Republic of Mauritania : Financial Sector Development Strategy and Action Plan 2013-2017. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/16065 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Digital Object Identifier
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Bolivia Financial Sector Notes : Assessing the Sector's Potential Role in Fostering Rural Development and Growth of the Productive Sectors(Washington, DC, 2011-12)Bolivia benefited from an overall favorable economic evolution in the last few years, supported by sound macro-economic indicators. Yet, economic growth was unevenly distributed between the sectors, with particularly extractive industries, construction and financial services showing higher real growth rates, while agriculture and manufacturing fell behind. This is an area of concern for the government which-as manifested in the new constitution-aims to foster a more balanced and equitable growth. In its reform measures, it places a particular focus on developing the rural areas, in which a large share of the indigenous population lives, and on the productive sector (agriculture, forestry, manufacturing and extractive), which provides the livelihood for a substantial number of poor people. This paper aims to contribute to the discussion and on-going reform efforts by providing an evaluation of the role the financial system could play for enhancing growth in rural areas and the productive sector without threatening the sector's stability. It also endeavors to update the Bank's knowledge on the financial sector, assess its current role and recent developments, and determine possible vulnerabilities as well as core bottlenecks for the outreach to underserved segments of the population and economy. However, the government needs to strike a fine balance in its policy measures to foster outreach and credit in order to not unduly lower the profitability in the financial sector, jeopardize the quality of the loan portfolio and as a result introduce vulnerability in an otherwise sound system. In particular, the strong push towards financing of the productive sector at comparatively low interest rates, can lead to over-indebtedness of the clients or a deterioration of the repayment culture, if lending institutions expanding their loan portfolios do not maintain (or introduce) prudent lendingPublication Financial Sector Development in Africa : Opportunities and Challenges(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2013)Africa's financial systems face challenges across many dimensions, as discussed in the report financing Africa: through the crisis and beyond. The analysis in that report was based partly on several detailed background papers that are included in this volume. The next six chapters are written by experts in their respective areas and provide an in-depth analysis of these challenges and present possible solutions. In this introduction, the authors provide an overview of the different chapters and how they are related to each other and the main volume. The three chapters in first part focus on key challenges concerned with access to financial services, including financial and operational deficiencies in the microfinance market, reaping the benefits from the technological revolution of retail banking, and deepening and broadening agricultural finance across Africa. The three chapters thus each cover different aspects with a different focus, ranging from an institutional approach to a focus on innovation as a driver of financial broadening to an important element of financial infrastructure to a specific sector. The second part includes the fourth chapter, it involves documents the sizable need for additional housing in many African countries, based on these countries' continuous population growth and an ongoing urbanization trend. The third part includes fifth chapter, which discuss the repercussions of regulatory reforms in Europe and North America for African regulators as well as local challenges. The fourth part includes the sixth chapter, which is the final chapter of this volume. It discusses the politics of financial sector reform in Africa and, more specifically, the space needed for an activist role for government to help create the markets and coordination mechanisms necessary for financial markets to deepen and broaden.Publication Jamaica(Washington, DC, 2015-04-01)Jamaica has experienced 30 years of low economic growth and high fiscal deficits, with a significant impact on the development of the financial sector. As part of the overall growth and competitiveness reform agenda, the authorities have embarked on ambitious financial sector legislation reforms to address weaknesses. Lack of access to credit and equity constrain Micro, Small and Medium Sized Enterprise (MSME) operations and growth, and ultimately their contribution to the economy. High interest rates and low penetration of credit to households and MSMEs can be explained by high credit risk as a result of high information asymmetries in the market, as well as limited competition in the banking sector. The authorities should complete the establishment of a regulatory and supervisory framework for deposit-taking institutions proportionate to the risks and the activities they undertake. The impact of public policies has been limited and programs on housing, MSME finance, and agriculture finance would be welcomed to address market gaps, in support of financial inclusion. The financial inclusion agenda also requires a comprehensive strategy on consumer protection regulation and supervision.Publication Financial Sector Assessment Program : Malawi - Access to Financial Services(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2008-09)This technical note the Malawi 2007 Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) reviews the current challenges of increasing access to financial services in Malawi. After a cursory assessment of the state of the financial sector in chapter one, it summarizes the key challenges of rural financial sector development (chapter two); then discusses the opportunities that branchless banking technology offers (chapter three), the options for strengthening the financial infrastructure (chapter four) and the role of government in increasing access (chapter five). It concludes with recommendations on how authorities may seek to realize these opportunities (chapter six).Publication Egyptian National Postal Organization : Postal Financial Services and Access to Finance(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2007-08)ENPO is an organization employing 48,000 staff and operating a network of more than 9,000 access points (of which 3,500 post offices, 6,500 agencies, of which 1,500 are currently active). A commercial entity with management autonomy, ENPO is primarily a provider of basic financial services. Other services are mail (regular and express), parcels and Government services. Postal financial services, with three main business lines (savings, payments and giro services) and 15 million savings accounts, generate around 50% to 60% of ENPO s total revenue, and occupy an estimated 15% of ENPO s staff. Although available accounting and financial information are limited, it seems that postal financial services are operated at a profit. For ENPO which is currently in a transition phase from an administration-type of organization, moving towards a corporate-type of organization, the strategic option will play as an accelerator of change (in case the Government decides for a drastic move towards bancarization) or as a consolidator of incremental reform (in case the Government opts for a progressive approach, potentially using alternative approach to grab the business opportunities of growth, but likely avoiding social tensions within the organization). In any case, moving forward the postal financial services agenda will call for (i) a review of the legal, regulatory and institutional set-up, (ii) building capacity in the network and assessing the return on investments, (iii) rapidly identifying the postal financial services as a business unit within the organization and assess its contribution to profit, as well as (iv) getting a better understanding of the cost structure so as to enable ENPO to be in a strong position during negotiations of service level agreement.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Clean Hydrogen for Road Transport in Developing Countries(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-04-01)Clean hydrogen is emerging as a key component of the global transition to clean energy, offering a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels. It can help boost energy security, improve air quality, and support decarbonization, particularly in industries where emissions are hard to abate, such as steel, cement, and chemicals. Clean hydrogen is produced via renewable-energy-based electrolysis (green hydrogen) or natural gas reforming with carbon capture (blue hydrogen), which significantly reduces carbon emissions. For developing countries with abundant renewable resources, green hydrogen presents an opportunity for economic growth, job creation, and energy security by reducing reliance on imported fossil fuels. Similarly, countries with natural gas reserves can benefit from blue hydrogen. However, scaling up the clean hydrogen economy requires stable demand and significant investment to reduce production and distribution costs. Global hydrogen demand, which reached 97 million tonnes (Mt) in 2023, is concentrated in the refining and chemical sectors. Clean hydrogen played only a marginal role, with less than 1 Mt production in 2023, although production is projected to grow strongly, reaching 49 Mt a year by 2030. This growth in demand can lead to potential cost reductions, which can have a spillover effect and help to simulate demand for hydrogen in the transport sector. This report assesses the economic viability of FCEVs in five selected countries (Brazil, Chile, India, South Africa, and the Republic of Korea) through comprehensive modeling exercises. It provides a comparative analysis of BEVs, FCEVs, and internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs) across four key vehicle segments: passenger cars, light commercial vehicles (LCVs), buses, and heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs).Publication Ukraine Fourth Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (RDNA4), February 2022 – December 2024(World Bank, Government of Ukraine, European Union, United Nations, 2025-03-04)As of December 31, 2024, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues to have profound physical, socioeconomic, and environmental impacts, which will be felt for generations. This fourth Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (RDNA4) - undertaken jointly by the World Bank Group, the Government of Ukraine, the European Commission, and the United Nations, with support from other partners—takes stock of almost three years of the ongoing invasion, estimating damage and losses along with recovery and reconstruction needs for 10 years. Beyond the physical and financial impacts that are more readily quantified, the RDNA4 provides a qualitative description of how people’s lives have been dramatically altered since February 2022. RDNA4 builds on the previous three Rapid Damage and Needs Assessments (RDNA1, RDNA2, and RDNA3), which respectively covered the first three months, first year, and the first 22 monthsPublication Brazil 2021 Data Update(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-04-01)There is evidence of significant under-coverage of the “Auxilio Emergencial” program in Brazil’s Continuous National Household Sample Survey (PNADC in Portuguese) 2021. The program, originally launched as an emergency measure by the Government of Brazil to support families during the pandemic, covered over 68 million individuals in 2020. The previous PNADC 2020 only observed about 20 million, and an approach to impute AE beneficiary status was applied to complement the observed AE status and better capture households’ welfare. A new version of the AE program was launched in 2021. AE in 2021 covered 36 million, while the PNADC 2021 only observed 8 million. An adjustment that incorporates the eligibility criteria of AE 2021 is implemented in the calculation of households’ income and poverty rates. The imputation method described here is included in the World Bank’s poverty and inequality estimates for Brazil 2021 (published in March 2023). The poverty estimates in 2021 are 28.4 percent at the US$6.85 poverty line and 5.8 percent at the US$2.15 line. The Gini coefficient is estimated at 0.526. A set of robustness checks shows qualitatively similar results.Publication Digital Africa(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-03-13)All African countries need better and more jobs for their growing populations. "Digital Africa: Technological Transformation for Jobs" shows that broader use of productivity-enhancing, digital technologies by enterprises and households is imperative to generate such jobs, including for lower-skilled people. At the same time, it can support not only countries’ short-term objective of postpandemic economic recovery but also their vision of economic transformation with more inclusive growth. These outcomes are not automatic, however. Mobile internet availability has increased throughout the continent in recent years, but Africa’s uptake gap is the highest in the world. Areas with at least 3G mobile internet service now cover 84 percent of Africa’s population, but only 22 percent uses such services. And the average African business lags in the use of smartphones and computers as well as more sophisticated digital technologies that catalyze further productivity gains. Two issues explain the usage gap: affordability of these new technologies and willingness to use them. For the 40 percent of Africans below the extreme poverty line, mobile data plans alone would cost one-third of their incomes—in addition to the price of access devices, apps, and electricity. Data plans for small- and medium-size businesses are also more expensive than in other regions. Moreover, shortcomings in the quality of internet services—and in the supply of attractive, skills-appropriate apps that promote entrepreneurship and raise earnings—dampen people’s willingness to use them. For those countries already using these technologies, the development payoffs are significant. New empirical studies for this report add to the rapidly growing evidence that mobile internet availability directly raises enterprise productivity, increases jobs, and reduces poverty throughout Africa. To realize these and other benefits more widely, Africa’s countries must implement complementary and mutually reinforcing policies to strengthen both consumers’ ability to pay and willingness to use digital technologies. These interventions must prioritize productive use to generate large numbers of inclusive jobs in a region poised to benefit from a massive, youthful workforce—one projected to become the world’s largest by the end of this century.Publication The Remittance Market in India : Opportunities, Challenges, and Policy Options(World Bank, 2012-01-09)In chapter one, this report maps the patterns and characteristics of migration flows from India; in chapter two, it provides a detailed discussion of remittance flows to India in terms of their importance, sources, uses, trends, costs, and links to financial access. In chapter three, the report describes the remittance market (the players, the regulatory framework, as well as the existing operational schemes), setting the stage for chapter four, which presents a diagnostic of the remittance market based on the General Principles for International Remittance Services (GPs). The diagnostic covers the legal and regulatory framework, payment system infrastructure, market transparency and level of consumer protection, market structure, level of competition among remittance service providers, as well as market governance. It analyzes the existing situation in India and provides detailed recommendations (including lessons learned from international best practices) that are aimed at increasing competition in the remittance industry, providing broader access to payment system infrastructure, enhancing transparency, and ensuring a sound and predictable legal and regulatory framework. Several of the actions could set a basis for leveraging remittances to achieve other important public policy goals such as broadening financial access, expanding financial inclusion, and both strengthening and deepening the financial sector. The report was prepared through (a) background research (data research and mining, literature review, collection of relevant material and information, and background research), (b) a field visit in 2009 (a team of experts visited India and conducted interviews and focus groups with all relevant stakeholders and major institutions active in the remittance market), and (c) surveys of both the authorities and the market players.