World Bank (Washington, DC)
17 July 2007
Washington, D.C. — The World Bank Group’s Board of Executive Directors today endorsed a new Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) for Mauritania for the four year period 2008-2011. The overall goal of this strategy is to strengthen economic governance, build public sector capacity and help improve the investment climate while continuing to fight poverty and inequalities in both urban and rural areas.
The new CAS reflects a collaborative approach between the World Bank Group, Government and development partners to support the country’s development.
“This strategy, which we developed in very close collaboration with other development partners, is a response to the key challenges faced by the Government of Mauritania in attaining sustainable development. At the same time, it highlights the key areas where we can support the country to achieve the highest impact on poverty reduction and better livelihoods for the Mauritanians,” says James Bond, Country Director for Mauritania.
Under the new CAS, the development partners will work closely with the Government of Mauritania to support improvement of public financial management, ensure sound management of oil revenues and strengthen checks and balance across public institutions. The CAS envisions increased community participation –notably through third party monitoring of the Bank portfolio—and capacity building of civil society organizations.
Like all previous Bank engagements, the new CAS encompasses five pillars that are aligned with the country’s second Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP-2):
Over the next four years, the Bank will re-engage with the private sector through a Private/Financial Sector Technical Assistance project which will address the financial and private sector development issues handled in close collaboration with IFC and MIGA. This project will focus on increasing non-oil investment in the economy and on improving the soundness and efficiency of the Mauritanian financial system, and providing support to prepare public private partnerships in the energy sector. A new transport project will include the preparation of a public private partnership in the port sector, and an economic sector work on sources of growth would help to identify potential growth sectors.
“In support of the second and third PRSP pillars, the Bank will contribute poverty reduction in the country through improvement of quality and access to basic social services. Through its existing rural portfolio and a planned economic and sector work on land tenure, we hope to diversify and intensify agriculture, and improve water control and access to land tenure,” says Francois Rantua, Country Manager for Mauritania.
The World Bank Group’s support will be through a variety of financing instruments such as IDA loans, IBRD enclave projects, and guarantees to support the Government and encourage private investment. In addition, the Bank will support a range of non-financial activities such as in-depth analysis and technical assistance on sustainable development issues of relevance to Mauritania.
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For more information on the World Bank’s work in sub-Saharan Africa visit: http://www.worldbank.org/afr
For more information on the World Bank’s work in Mauritania visit: www.worldbank.org/mauritania
For more information about the CAS visit: http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/AFRICAEXT/MAURITANIAEXTN/
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