World Bank Vice President: The Size of the World Bank’s Project Portfolio in Mauritania Today Amounts to one Billion Dollars Covering Almost all Development Sectors

The World Bank’s Vice President for West and Central Africa, Ousmane Jagana, said that the size of the World Bank’s project portfolio in Mauritania today stands at one billion dollars covering almost all development sectors.

He added in an interview with the Mauritanian News Agency, Tuesday evening at the headquarters of the World Bank in Nouakchott, that the first project funded by the World Bank in Mauritania dates back to 1964, so we celebrate the sixtieth anniversary in 2024, adding that the partnership began only four years after Mauritania obtained international sovereignty, at a time when the new state began its work in development at all levels.

He pointed out that the World Bank was called as a financing institution naturally by the Mauritanian government, but also as an institution of states, noting that the Bank then realized that it was its duty to contribute to the financing of priority development goals in Mauritania.

The first Bank-funded project in Mauritania was the construction of the Nouakchott-Rosso road in 1964, the World Bank vice president said, adding that since then, several programs have been funded.

“We are satisfied with the cooperation between us and Mauritania,” he added, noting that development is a long-term business, and there is an ambition to continue efforts in supporting Mauritania to help it grow further.

Regarding the role and performance of human capital in Mauritania’s development, Mr. Jagana stated that the cooperation between his institution and Mauritania took place in a historical context in which the conditions were already favourable for the development of human capital, which encompasses all aspects of development, in particular education and health, which were included in this partnership.

Mauritania is one of the few countries in Africa, where the access rate to education is 100%, however, the population growth rate is very fast.

He added that despite the severe challenges that remain, significant progress has been made in Mauritania in terms of strengthening human capital.

On the recent report that Mauritania ranks first in sub-Saharan Africa in terms of absorption of financing, the World Bank vice president explained that the exchange rate is the percentage of resources available to Mauritania that have been used in a specific period of time.

He stressed that the bank finances in particular tangible projects, whose impact is direct on the daily life of the citizen and is able to stimulate the comprehensive development of the country, pointing out that the ability to absorb financing is an important factor in evaluating performance.