Mauritania Country Commercial Guide
Learn about the market conditions, opportunities, regulations, and business conditions in mauritania, prepared by at U.S. Embassies worldwide by Commerce Department, State Department and other U.S. agencies’ professionals
Select Country Guide
Fintech
Last published date:

Mauritania’s financial sector remains small, though digital tools are beginning to reshape the landscape. Formal account ownership (bank or financial institution) is relatively low, with the latest available World Bank estimate from 2020 indicating a rate of 17 percent. When including mobile money service providers and microfinance institutions, that figure rises to nearly 38 percent. Mobile phone penetration is high: in early 2025, there were approximately 6.14 million mobile connections, about 117 percent of the population. This high mobile connectivity offers potential to reach previously excluded groups. While mobile money is not yet as highly utilized in Mauritania as in some neighbors in the region, the trend is pushing banks to improve digital channels and explore new partnerships. In 2024, the Central Bank of Mauritania (BCM) partnered with Giesecke+Devrient to explore a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).

A major development in 2025 was the certification of Mauritania’s national payments switch, GIMTEL, in the Visa Global Registry of Service Providers. This certification brings GIMTEL into compliance with international card network standards and paves the way for stronger interoperability between banks, telcos, and global payment providers. The move enhances credibility, improves the resilience of the national payments infrastructure, and positions Mauritania to integrate more effectively with international financial systems. Together, these changes are shifting digital finance from being a niche service to a mainstream part of the banking sector, opening doors for innovation while reinforcing regulatory oversight.

Opportunities: There is strong demand for providers of interoperable mobile money infrastructure, real-time payments switching, digital agent-networks, and fraud and risk management technologies calibrated for zones of intermittent connectivity. Core banking and e-money platforms adaptable to Mauritania’s low-finance and remote rural context are also needed, especially those that enable offline or low-bandwidth usage. As CBDC exploration proceeds, firms with digital identity, wallet-technology, and financial inclusion tooling, will be well placed.

Resources:  The Ministry of Digitalization

×

Global Business Navigator Chatbot Beta

Welcome to the Global Business Navigator, an artificial intelligence (AI) Chatbot from the International Trade Administration (ITA). This tool, currently in beta version testing, is designed to provide general information on the exporting process and the resources available to assist new and experienced U.S. exporters. The Chatbot, developed using Microsoft’s Azure AI services, is trained on ITA’s export-related content and aims to quickly get users the information they need. The Chatbot is intended to make the benefits of exporting more accessible by understanding non-expert language, idiomatic expressions, and foreign languages.

Limitations

As a beta product, the Chatbot is currently being tested and its responses may occasionally produce inaccurate or incomplete information. The Chatbot is trained to decline out of scope or inappropriate requests. The Chatbot’s knowledge is limited to the public information on the Export Solutions web pages of Trade.gov, which covers a wide range of topics on exporting. While it cannot provide responses specific to a company’s product or a specific foreign market, its reference pages will guide you to other relevant government resources and market research. Always double-check the Chatbot’s responses using the provided references or by visiting the Export Solutions web pages on Trade.gov. Do not use its responses as legal or professional advice. Inaccurate advice from the Chatbot would not be a defense to violating any export rules or regulations.

Privacy

The Chatbot does not collect information about users and does not use the contents of users’ chat history to learn new information. All feedback is anonymous. Please do not enter personally identifiable information (PII), sensitive, or proprietary information into the Chatbot. Your conversations will not be connected to other interactions or accounts with ITA. Conversations with the Chatbot may be reviewed to help ITA improve the tool and address harmful, illegal, or otherwise inappropriate questions.

Translation

The Chatbot supports a wide range of languages. Because the Chatbot is trained in English and responses are translated, you should verify the translation. For example, the Chatbot may have difficulty with acronyms, abbreviations, and nuances in a language other than English.

Privacy Program | Information Quality Guidelines | Accessibility