Press Release No. 22/188

IMF Staff Concludes Governance Diagnostic Assessment Mission to Mauritania

June 8, 2022

• The IMF has concluded a mission to review and analyze governance and integrity issues in Mauritania at the request of the Government of Mauritania.
• The mission and the Government of Mauritania recognize the important steps that have recently been taken to strengthen governance and accountability and appreciate the need for continued progress on transparency, integrity, and the rule of law.
• The IMF looks forward to continuing to work with the Government of Mauritania to produce a Governance Diagnostic Assessment report and a government action plan on the steps that will be taken to address governance weaknesses and corruption vulnerabilities.

Washington, DC: An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission visited Nouakchott, Mauritania from May 23-June 2, 2022, to undertake a study of governance at the request of the Government of Mauritania. A team of 10 experts under the leadership of Mr. Joel Turkewitz met virtually and in-person with government officials, private sector representatives, civil society, and other development partners.

The Governance Diagnostic Assessment is intended to support continued reform and progress in establishing effective governance arrangements and the rule of law. Similar assessments have been recently conducted Moldova and the Republic of Congo and have led to publicly available reports jointly produced by governments and the IMF, and Government action plans for implementing reforms. The request by the Government of Mauritania for the Governance Assessment reflects the government’s commitment to addressing issues of governance and integrity in a transparent manner. The dedication of resources to this topic indicates that both the Government and IMF recognize that improving governance and fighting corruption are essential for further economic development.

The mission team examined a wide variety of economic governance areas, including governance of the central bank, the financial sector, the fiscal sector, the protection of contract and property rights, and anti-money laundering. The team met with officials to analyze existing accountability responsibilities and current laws and organizational practices relating to fighting corruption. The team recognized the substantial progress that has been made in Mauritania in improving the legal framework for governance, the recent detailed public investigations of corruption that have been undertaken at the highest level, as well as the advances that have been made introducing IT technology into the operations of the public sector. The mission also appreciates the work that has been done on transparency, monitoring and oversight of the Solidarity Fund and the need to establish stronger links between auditing and organizational and individual accountability.

The IMF looks forward to continuing to work with the Government of Mauritania on this critical topic. Collaboration on the Governance Diagnostic Assessment will continue until the exercise concludes with the finalization of a report and the creation of a Government Action Plan. The Action Plan is expected to provide a strong platform for future engagement on issues of governance and integrity.

The IMF mission thanks the Government of Mauritania for their warm welcome and for the candid and constructive discussions.