Mauritania’s population was estimated at 3.1 million in 2007, distributed across a vast geographical area covering approximately 1,030,700 km², 80% of which is desert. The country is faced with two major challenges, desertification and recurring drought, both of which have severely hampered its economic and social development. About half of its population (46.7%) lives below the poverty line. With a per capita GDP of US$ 952 in 2007, Mauritania is classified as a Least Developed Country (LDC) Mauritania's Human Development Index (HDI) was 0.550 in 2007, ranking it 137th among the countries classified by the UNDP.

Development Policy

Over the last five years (2003-2007), Mauritania's economy has posted 5.7% annual growth of real GDP. With the exception of 2006, when growth was driven by oil production, enabling the country to achieve a record growth rate of 11.4%, it is mining (iron, copper and, more recently gold), agriculture and fishing that constitute the engines of growth. As a result of the dynamism of these sectors, GDP growth should reach 5.7% in 2008 in spite of the unfavourable international environment characterized by the food crisis, the financial crisis, and a fall in oil production for the second year in succession.

The government’s principal economic orientations are defined in a three-year development plan for the 2008-2010 period stemming from the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (2006-2010 PRSP). This plan is based on the following five key pillars:

• improved governance
• human resource development
• consolidation of economic growth
• facilitation of access by the population to basic services
• regional planning.

Under this program, Mauritania has embarked on a broad package of reforms aimed at restoring macroeconomic stability, strengthening public finance management, modernizing the banking and financial system, and improving governance and transparency in managing public resources. Furthermore, a Special Intervention Program (SIP) has been put in place to combat the food crisis.

Mauritania is a member of the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU), the Senegal River Basin Development Authority (OMVS) and the Permanent Inter-State Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS), and has signed numerous bilateral trade agreements. Mauritania is also a signatory to the Cotonou Agreement governing tradel relations between the EU and the ACP countries. The country has also undertaken to implement the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and has initiated the budgetary support eligibility process.  In spite of the progress it has made from an economic perspective, Mauritania still has a low level human development. The efforts made through the implementation of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper have not yet taken the country any closer to achieving its MDGs by 2015.

Bank Group Strategy

The Bank’s assistance strategy for Mauritania during the 2006-2007 period was in line with the economic and social orientations of the government's development programme. Its main objectives were to:

• increase incomes in rural areas
• develop microfinance
• facilitate access by the population to water and sanitation facilities.

This strategy was based on two pillars:

• microfinance development
• facilitation of access by the population to water and sanitation services in rural areas.

 By virtue of their direct impact on the poor and vulnerable segments of the population, microfinance and rural water supply are two of the most suitable areas of intervention to promote pro-poor growth especially in rural areas where poverty is most prevalent and to help the country achieve its MDGs.

At end-November 2008, the Bank’s portfolio in Mauritania comprised 16 projects for total commitments of UA 110.3 million, twelve of which were in the public sector and four in the private sector. The sector breakdown of these operations (see chart opposite) reflects the predominance of infrastructure (public utilities and transport accounting for 53% of total commitments), followed by agriculture (21%) and the social sector (17%), and shows how the Bank’s strategy is in line with the priorities laid down by the government’s development programme.