Investing in Mauritania

The main investment pathways in Mauritania are direct projects, equity or cash contributions to Mauritanian companies, Treasury securities and selected real assets. A company or branch can be established through APIM’s Guichet Unique, a coordinated investment-services office. An Investment Certificate supports eligible direct investments under Law No. 2025-006 of 19 February 2025. The preferred investment regime excludes ordinary banking and leasing, insurance and reinsurance, mining, hydrocarbons and green hydrogen because those activities follow sector-specific rules. It also excludes buying movable or immovable property solely for unchanged resale. APIM gives priority to agriculture, fisheries, livestock, energy, mining, tourism, logistics, manufacturing, renewable energy, water, health and digital activities. Development can also involve public-private partnerships, Nouadhibou Free Zone projects or investment in companies connected with these sectors. The certificate regime distinguishes Basic SME projects of MRU 2 million to MRU 30 million with at least five direct jobs, Basic Intermediate projects above MRU 30 million up to MRU 200 million with at least 15 jobs, Development Poles projects starting at MRU 2 million with job thresholds that depend on project size, and Structuring Investments of at least MRU 200 million with at least 50 jobs. MRU is the Mauritanian ouguiya. Certificate validity is generally eight years for the Basic regime and ten years for Development Poles and Structuring Investments. Complete company-registration files submitted through APIM can be processed within 48 working hours. Investment Certificate decisions can take up to ten business days for Basic projects, 20 business days for Development Poles and 45 business days for Structuring Investments. Structuring projects pass through an interministerial investment process, and preferred-regime projects require environmental impact assessment where applicable. The investment programme must be implemented within three years. Investors must disclose the lawful source of funds and beneficial owners, comply with tax, customs, anti-money-laundering, environmental and social rules, keep accounts under the Mauritanian chart of accounts, submit annual reports and notify authorities before changing the approved purpose. Fraud, failure to start within one year or an unresolved breach after a 60-day correction period can lead to withdrawal of the certificate. Eligible foreign investors receive protection against direct and indirect expropriation, fair and equal treatment and national treatment. Property, concessions and public procurement remain subject to Mauritanian law. Foreign-currency access and transfers of capital, profits, dividends, capital gains, sale proceeds, interest and fees depend on taxes, foreign-exchange rules and supporting documents. A land concession normally grants a limited right of use rather than unrestricted ownership, resale, subletting or a change of purpose. Investment incentives can include reduced import taxes, value-added-tax relief, refunds or exemptions, a tax exemption on qualifying bank finance and a training tax credit, but the applicable regime and conditions must be confirmed for the specific project. Published retail brokerage, custody, listing, settlement, foreign-exchange and tax charges are not complete. Treasury bills, Treasury bonds and Islamic Treasury bills are available government instruments, but public information does not confirm a broad retail distribution system. Reported holdings in 2025 included about MRU 7.12 billion in conventional Treasury bills and bonds and MRU 1.6 billion in Islamic Treasury bills. Treasury-bond maturities introduced from March 2025 extended to five years, with ten-year maturities planned. Auctions, yields, eligibility, settlement and secondary-market access must be checked for each offering. Commercial banks remain the main holders, while a government-securities trading platform and its central-securities-depository interface are being developed. Mauritania’s capital-market framework was modernized by Law No. 2024-044 of 10 December 2024. ARMF, the financial-market regulator, oversees capital-market activity and investor protection. The Bourse de Nouakchott is the statutory exchange organization, and Mauriclear is the legally designated central securities depository and settlement institution. A Bourse de Nouakchott board meeting on 6 April 2026 concerned governance and start-up preparation, but no reliable public list of active retail listings, prices, retail brokers or complete tariffs confirms a deep trading market. Access to local securities will therefore generally require a licensed bank or investment-service provider, subject to confirmation by ARMF or BCM, the Central Bank of Mauritania. Gold provides exposure to a real or alternative asset through the formalization of artisanal and semi-industrial activity by Maaden. A project may involve a licensed mine site, processing residues, shafts or majhar, crushing workshops, equipment or logistics. Gold investment carries gold-price, licensing, environmental, security, informality and liquidity risks. The CNSS provides statutory social insurance for pensions, invalidity and death for covered workers; it is not an individually controlled securities account. Contributions are generally 13% from the employer and 1% from the employee on salary up to a cap of MRU 15,000. Bank accounts and mobile-money services provide payment or banking access, not investment products. BCM reported 17 banks in 2025, 34 microfinance institutions in 2024, 22 insurers in 2024 and nine payment institutions in 2026, while financial inclusion was reported at 21% in 2023. Public evidence does not establish a local UCITS or mutual-fund market, an individually managed private-pension investment product, a regulated crypto-investment product, or generally available individual securities custody accounts. These findings describe the available public evidence rather than a legal prohibition; ARMF, BCM, APIM or a licensed provider should confirm availability before any transaction. Investment decisions face exposure to the Mauritanian ouguiya and foreign exchange, commodity cycles in iron ore, gold, fisheries, gas and other extractive activities, droughts and floods, regional security conditions, infrastructure and governance gaps, concentrated banking, family ownership, limited market depth, opaque private companies, land-title problems, mining and environmental liabilities, inflation and import costs. Private equity and project investments can be difficult to sell, and no assumption of deposit insurance or investor-compensation protection is justified without checking the specific product and provider. A sound review covers ownership, title, licences, audited accounts, beneficial owners, the foreign-exchange and repatriation path, likely buyers at exit, taxes, environmental and social liabilities, and concentration in one bank, project, commodity or sector. For small investors, low access and low liquidity make diversification and regulated external assets worth considering where lawful and practically available.