Mauritania Launches Online Investment Guide Targeting Investors
The online investment guide (iGuide) to Mauritania was officially launched in Nouakchott last week. Designed to provide intelligible, reliable and up-to-date information on the relevant laws, regulations, costs and opportunities, this investment promotion tool is now ready to serve the national and global investment community, reported the UN Economic Commission for Africa.
The website covers topics such as the rules and procedures of starting a business, skills and wage levels of the local labor force, investor rights and business sectors with especially high investment potential.
Users who wish to obtain more detailed information may consult additional documents that have been uploaded, such as the French version of laws and regulations and contact details of some of the relevant institutions, ECA said in a release posted on its website.
The site also features feedback collected among investors on the ground. “The information accessible through the iGuide is otherwise scattered across many different websites or outright not available,” highlighted Mr Ian Richards, Economic Affairs Officer at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), as he walked the audience through the platform.
Mr Joseph Baricako, Economic Affairs Officer at the ECA, recalled that the iGuide was a joint product developed by the Ministry of the Economy and Finance in collaboration with the ECA and UNCTAD. After outlining the relevance of the platform for the country and potential investors, Mr Baricako also said that like in all other countries where the investment guide has already been developed, the platform is to be managed and updated by the national authorities following its official launch.
Mauritania is the sixth African country to launch the iGuide in 2018, following the Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Zambia, Nigeria and Madagascar. Ethiopia is also expected to present its iGuide by the end of the year. To date, thirteen countries in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean have an online investment guide at their disposal.
