Panafrican News Agency

IMF team concludes ‘Governance Diagnostic Assessment Mission’ to Mauritania

Nouakchott, Mauritania (PANA) – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Mauritania have expressed recognition of the important steps recently taken to strengthen governance and accountability in the West African country.

According to a statement released on Wednesday by the IMF, the two sides also appreciate the need for continued progress on transparency, integrity and the rule of law in Mauritania.

At the request of the Government, an IMF mission visited Nouakchott, the Mauritania capital, from 23 May - 2 June, 2022, to review and analyse governance and integrity issues in Mauritania.

Led by Mr. Joel Turkewitz, the 10-member team of IMF experts met virtually and in-person with government officials, private sector representatives, civil society, and other development partners.

“The Governance Diagnostic Assessment is intended to support continued reform and progress in establishing effective governance arrangements and the rule of law. Similar assessments have been recently conducted in Moldova and the Republic of Congo and have led to publicly available reports jointly produced by governments and the IMF, and Government action plans for implementing reforms,” said the IMF statement.

It explained that the request by Mauritania for Governance Assessment reflects the government’s commitment to addressing issues of governance and integrity in a transparent manner.

“The dedication of resources to this topic indicates that both the Government and IMF recognise that improving governance and fighting corruption are essential for further economic development."

The statement said the mission team examined a wide variety of economic governance areas, including governance of the central bank, the financial sector, the fiscal sector, the protection of contract and property rights, and anti-money laundering.

The team met with officials to analyse existing accountability responsibilities and current laws and organisational practices relating to fighting corruption.

The team recognised the substantial progress that has been made in Mauritania in improving the legal framework for governance, the recent detailed public investigations of corruption that have been undertaken at the highest level, as well as the advances that have been made in introducing IT technology into the operations of the public sector.

According to the statement, the IMF mission appreciated the work that has been done on transparency, monitoring and oversight of the Solidarity Fund and the need to establish stronger links between auditing and organisational and individual accountability.

“The IMF looks forward to continuing to work with the Government of Mauritania on this critical topic. Collaboration on the Governance Diagnostic Assessment will continue until the exercise concludes with the finalisation of a report and the creation of a Government Action Plan. The Action Plan is expected to provide a strong platform for future engagement on issues of governance and integrity,” the statement added.

The plan will specifically focus on the steps that will be taken to address governance weaknesses and corruption vulnerabilities.

-0- PANA AR/MA 9June2022