Mauritania Country Economic Memorandum : Accelerating Growth Through Diversification and Productive Cities
The Mauritanian economy is at an important crossroad. Despite significant increases in itsnatural resource wealth, economic development in Mauritania remains weak. The over-reliance on natural resources has left the economy undiversified with growt...
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| Format: | Report |
| Language: | English |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2020
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/652481590432527403/Mauritania-Country-Economic-Memorandum-Accelerating-Growth-Through-Diversification-and-Productive-Cities http://hdl.handle.net/10986/33803 |
| Summary: | The Mauritanian economy is at an
important crossroad. Despite significant increases in
itsnatural resource wealth, economic development in
Mauritania remains weak. The over-reliance on natural
resources has left the economy undiversified with growth,
exports, and fiscal revenues all dependent on extractives.
Responding to the 2015 commodity price shock, the
authorities implemented a strong fiscal consolidation
program that restored macroeconomic stability andsteered the
economy onto a recovery path. The new
administration—appointed following the election in
mid-2019—now has the challenge and opportunity to map out a
more sustainable development model and steer the economy
onto a path of accelerated and equitable economic growth for
the rapidly growing population. The objective of this report
is to support policy makers in Mauritania in their reform
efforts to accelerate growth as outlined in the National
Development Plan (SCAPP).It attempts to answer the following
questions: (i) Why Mauritania could not diversify its
economy in the past and what are the opportunities to do so
in the future? (ii) What are the reasons behind the weak
link between urbanization and growth, and is Nouakchott
lifting its weight as anurban agglomeration? (iii) Which
policy actions could help build those pathways? By answering
these questions, the report aims to contribute to the
economic discussion and provide policy recommendations for
the choices that Mauritania is facing to accelerate growth
and improve theliving standards of its population. The
report is organized around five chapters. Chapter 1starts
with a brief introduction. Chapter 2 analyzes the key
characteristics of Mauritania’s past growth performance.
Chapter 3 evaluates the current and future potential for
economic and export diversification. Chapter 4 examines the
challenges that are preventing urbanization from
contributing to growth, with a focus on Nouakchott. Chapter
5 concludes by proposing a menu of policy recommendations
that could help Mauritania achieve faster and more
sustainable economic growth. |
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