Mauritania - Enhanced National Capacity in Telecommunications Sector Reforms
Mauritania's 1998-2001 telecommunications reforms resemble many World Bank supported reform programs where overcoming capacity constraints can determine success in achieving development outcomes. Overcoming capacity constraints enabled this...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Brief |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2012
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2003/04/2454610/mauritania-enhanced-national-capacity-telecommunications-sector-reforms http://hdl.handle.net/10986/9737 |
| Summary: | Mauritania's 1998-2001
telecommunications reforms resemble many World Bank
supported reform programs where overcoming capacity
constraints can determine success in achieving development
outcomes. Overcoming capacity constraints enabled this
desert nation of over 2 million largely nomadic inhabitants
to attain unanticipated levels of outcomes in three years of
telecommunications reforms. New private investment of US$
100 million in telecommunications was attracted over two
years, equivalent to 10 percent of GDP; telephone line
access multiplied twenty-fold; 6,000 new
telecommunications-related jobs were created in the informal
sector in the capital city (Noukachott) alone; and a
multisector regulatory agency was established which is now
regarded as a model in Africa. From lacking critical skills
at the outset of these reforms, Mauritania became a source
of lessons for neighboring countries on how to competitively
tender utility licenses, effectively regulate utilities in a
competitive setting, and privatize a telecommunications
operator. Support for this capacity enhancement came from
relatively modest external assistance with an estimated cost
of slightly over one million dollars (World Bank Group staff
time as well as consultancy support). |
|---|