MAURITANIA

The current constitution of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, adopted on 12 July 1991, came into force on 20 July 1991. This constitution was suspended twice at the time of the 2005 and 2008 political coups. It has been revised three times in 2006, 2012 and 2017.

The Mauritanian state is a unitary state and its political system is semi-presidential. Until 5 August 2017, when the last constitutional referendum abolished the Senate, there was a two-chamber parliament. Since then, legislative power has been exercised by the National Assembly, now the only chamber of the Mauritanian parliament. There are 157 members of the National Assembly, including four members elected by their counterparts in the chamber as representatives of Mauritanians abroad. They are elected for a five-year term. The last legislative elections, together with regional and municipal elections, took place on 1 September 2018.

Mauritania became independent in 1960. It abolished the division of the country into cercles that existed under the colonial administration. A first administrative reform took place in 1968 with Law 68-242 of 30 July 1968 which distinguished three categories of communes, urban communes, rural communes and pilot communes. This territorial structure was abolished in 1979. Ordinance 79-026 of 20 February 1979 on the organisation of the regions and the district of Nouakchott reinforces the deconcentration of the central power by creating advisory councils at the three levels of regions (wilayas), departments (moughataas) and districts. Ordinance 87-289 of 20 October 1987 re-established the communes. Since then, the commitment to the decentralisation process has been renewed several times, notably in 2010 with the declaration of decentralisation and local development policy.

The national consultation launched by the government at the end of September 2016 identified several institutional reforms, including the creation of the region as a decentralised entity through a regional council. The adoption of Organic Law 2018-010 of 12 February 2018 on regions is a concrete expression of this desire to strengthen and complete the national territorial structure.

On 30 September 2020, the ministerial council of the Mauritanian government adopted a National Strategy for Decentralisation and Local Development (SNDDL, Stratégie nationale de décentralisation et de développement local). This strategy should guide national action in this area over the next 10 years. Its ambition is to make Mauritania's local and regional authorities, by 2028, "key players in inclusive territorial governance and harmonious development of the national territory on the basis of access for all to basic services and local economic development initiatives allowing the potential of the territories to be realised in the spirit of national solidarity". Chapter 7 of the SNDDL proposes the establishment of a steering and monitoring and evaluation mechanism for the decentralisation and local development policy through the creation of a National Council for Decentralisation and Local Development (CNDDL, Conseil national de décentralisation et de développement local). This higher body was established under the authority of the presidency of the Republic by Decree 31-2021 of 11 March 2021. It is chaired by the president of the Republic and comprises 30 members representing the executive and the decentralised local and regional authorities, as well as individuals appointed by the president of the Republic for their expertise in the field. With regard to the mechanisms and modalities for financing decentralisation, Chapter 6 of the SNDDL proposed establishing a National Decentralisation and Local Development Fund to replace the Regional Development Fund (FRD, Fonds régional de développement), which has remained the main source of funding for communes until the present.

TERRITORIAL ORGANISATION
MUNICIPAL LEVEL	INTERMEDIATE LEVEL	REGIONAL LEVEL	TOTAL NUMBER OF SNGs (2020)
Municipalities Aldaladia (البلدية)		Regions Laregion (الجهة)
Average municipal size: 21 804 (inh.)
219		13	232

OVERALL DESCRIPTION: Ordinance 87.289 of 20 October 1987 established the communes, which remained the only level of decentralised subnational government until 2018, when the regions were created by Law 2018.010 of 12 February 2018 on regions.

The two local and regional entities, the communes and the regions, have legal personality and financial autonomy. There are 219 communes and 13 regions, including the region of Nouakchott, which replaced the former Urban Community of Nouakchott (CUN, Communauté Urbaine de Nouakchott).

With regard to the deconcentrated administration of the State, the country is divided into wilayas (regions), which are in turn divided into moughataas (departments) and the latter into districts, all of which are headed by civil servants appointed by the ministerial council: wali for regions, hakem for departments and district leader for districts. The country is composed of 15 administrative regions, 63 departments and 25 districts.

In the Wilaya of Dakhlet Nouadhibou, a duty-free zone was established by Law 2013-001 of 2 January 2013 creating the Nouadhibou Duty-Free Zone. This duty-free zone is a priority economic development area covering an area of more than 1 000 km² for a population of 100 000 inhabitants. The Nouadhibou Duty-Free Zone Authority is a legal entity under public law, endowed with financial and operational autonomy, exclusively regulated by the special status defined by the said law and its implementing texts. The Authority is under the supervision of the presidency of the Republic (Article 11 of the Law).

REGIONAL LEVEL: The territorial limits of the regions coincide with those of the administrative constituencies of the wilayas (Article 2 of Organic Law 2018-010 of 12 February 2018 on regions). The region of Nouakchott, the political capital of the country, includes three wilayas (Nouakchott North, Nouakchott South and Nouakchott West).

The region is administered by two bodies elected by direct universal suffrage for a five-year term: a deliberative body, the regional council, and an executive body, the president of the regional council. The number of regional councillors varies between 11 and 25, depending on the region (Article 6 of the Law creating the regions). In Nouakchott, which has a special status, the regional council has 37 members.

MUNICIPAL LEVEL: Any urban or rural settlement may be established as a commune by decree of the ministerial council on the recommendation of the minister of the interior. This decree determines the name, the seat and the territorial limits of the commune.

The municipal body of each commune consists of the municipal council, the mayor and one or more deputies. The municipal council and the mayor are elected by direct universal suffrage for a term of five years. The number of councillors varies from nine to 21, depending on the size of the commune.

HORIZONTAL COOPERATION: Paragraph 2 of Law 2001-27 of 7 February 2001 amending and supplementing Ordinance 87-289 of 20/10/1987 repealing and replacing Ordinance 86-134 of 13 August 1986 establishing communes, states that "communes in the same geographical area may join together within the framework of an inter-communal structure, with a view to achieving common objectives in the interest of their populations". As no decree has yet been issued establishing how this provision is to be implemented, no such structure has been created to date.

The Intercommunal Solidarity Fund (FIS, Fonds intercommunal de solidarité), the resource centres and the Association of Mayors of Mauritania (AMM) are other forms of intercommunal solidarity:

- The Intercommunal Solidarity Fund (FIS) is an equalisation fund to which all communes in Mauritania contribute between 1 and 3% of the commune's budget. The contribution to the FIS is a compulsory expense in accordance with Article 4 of Decree 89.124 of 14 September 1989, which established it and created a special allocation account to record its operations. Since its creation, the Fund has never been capitalised;

- The resource centres bring together several member communes. They are intended to provide ongoing support to the communes and to carry out capacity-building activities. Four such centres have been established by decree but none is operational to date;

- The Association of Mayors of Mauritania (AMM) is a space for dialogue and consultation between its members. Associations of mayors also exist at the regional level.

Finally, local and regional authorities, on the basis of their own responsibilities, may also sign cooperation agreements with local and regional authorities of foreign countries or international public or private development organisations.

The responsibilities of local and regional authorities are listed in Ordinance 87.289 of 20 October 1987 on communes and in Organic Law 2018.010 of 12 February 2018 on regions for regions.

Communes are responsible for the management of communal interests and for providing public services that meet the needs of the local population and that do not fall within the jurisdiction of the State by their nature or importance. The regions have the task of promoting economic, social, cultural and scientific development within their territorial jurisdiction, while respecting the integrity, autonomy and powers of other local and regional authorities. They also have a role in ensuring the cohesion of development and spatial planning strategies.

The region of Dakhlet Nouadhibou, within the territorial limits of the Nouadhibou Duty-Free Zone, exercises only part of its responsibilities; the Duty-Free Zone Authority combines responsibilities traditionally devolved to the commune and the region. However, the Dakhlet Nouadhibou region may enter into partnership contracts with the Nouadhibou Duty-Free Zone Authority, particularly regarding the economic and social development of the region.

Main responsibility sectors and sub-sectors
SECTORS AND SUB-SECTORS	Regional level	Municipal level
1. General public services (administration)	Participating in, supporting and facilitating land use plans and schemes and the development of socio-economic infrastructure.	Cemeteries, urban transport, health and schools
2. Public order and safety		Fire fighting
3. Economic affairs/transport	- Promoting and encouraging commercial, industrial and tourist activities and investments in the region;Promoting tourism in the region; - Supporting and encouraging private initiatives to create tourism infrastructure; - Supporting and encouraging artisanal production;- Awareness-raising activities regarding the cleanliness and hygiene of tourist facilities.	Local roads, markets, abattoirs
4. Environmental protection	- Participating in the development and implementation of regional environmental action plans and schemes; - Participating in the drafting of specific regional emergency response and risk management plans; - Monitoring the management, protection and maintenance of forests, protected areas and natural sites of regional interest; - Establishing defences and other measures for the protection of nature of regional interest; - Contributing to the construction of firebreaks as part of the fight against bushfires; - Protecting wildlife.	Parks and gardens, garbage collection
5. Housing and community amenities		Water supply and street lighting
6. Health	-Providing support to health structures in the region; - Participating in implementing state policies and priorities in the field of public health, hygiene and epidemic control policies;	Constructing, maintaining and equipping clinics, hygiene
7. Culture and leisure	- Developing regional sports infrastructure; - Providing assistance to cultural, sports and youth associations; - Organising, leading and developing socio-educational and sporting activities of regional interest;- Promoting and developing cultural activities at the regional level; - Surveillance and monitoring of the state of conservation of sites, historical monuments of regional interest and prehistoric and/or historical remains; - Organising cultural, literary and artistic events at regional level; - Creating and managing orchestras, traditional lyrical ensembles, folklore, theatre groups and regional museums; - Creating and managing socio-cultural centres and public reading libraries of regional interest.	Communal sports and cultural facilities
8. Education	- Constructing, equipping, maintaining and servicing high schools, colleges and vocational training institutions; - Recruiting and providing support staff for high schools, colleges and vocational training institutions; - Participating in the implementation of national government policies and priorities in the field of public education, literacy and vocational training policies.	Constructing, maintaining and equipping school buildings for basic education
9. Social welfare	Promoting social welfare action at the regional level.	Building, maintaining and equipping maternal and child welfare centres, assisting the needy

Scope of fiscal data: No data available

SCN 2008

Availability of fiscal data: Low

Quality/reliability of fiscal data: Low

GENERAL INTRODUCTION: The provisions relating to the finances of local and regional authorities in Mauritania are listed in Chapter 9 of Organic Law 2018-010 of 12 February 2018 on regions and in Chapter 2 of Ordinance 87-289 of 20 October 1987 repealing and replacing Ordinance 86-134 of 13 August 1986 establishing the communes.

No consolidated information is available on the revenue and spending of the country's local and regional authorities.

ⓘ No detailed data available for this country

EXPENDITURE: The communes' spending is broken down into operating and capital spending (Art. 71 and 72 of Ordinance 87-289 of 20 October 1987 repealing and replacing Ordinance 86-134 of 13 August 1986 establishing the communes). Operating expenditure consists of fees payable, municipal administration spending, security spending, municipal services spending and miscellaneous spending. Capital spending consists of plans for and the construction of public school, health and urban facilities, as well as plans for and the construction of any local project that may contribute to the development of the commune.

The spending of the regions is defined in Articles 60 and 61 of the Organic Law 2018-010 of 12 February 2018 on regions. It consists of the salaries and allowances of the staff working in the region as well as contributions to social security and pension organisations for the staff, amortisation and interest on the debt, contributions to the solidarity and equalisation funds, operating costs of the services, spending on asset maintenance, the contribution to the realisation of development projects and programmes and compulsory insurance premiums.

ⓘ No detailed data available for this country

ⓘ No detailed data available for this country

OVERALL DESCRIPTION: The revenue sources of the communes are described in articles 67 and 68 of Ordinance 87-289 of 20 October 1987 repealing and replacing Ordinance 86-134 of 13 August 1986 establishing the communes. They are composed of ordinary revenue (additional percentage tax, rebates from national taxes levied on the territory of the commune, municipal taxes, revenue from services, revenue from the commune's assets and fees for services rendered) and extraordinary revenue (loans, subsidies and miscellaneous revenue).

The revenue sources of the regions are presented in terms of operating and investment in articles 55 and 56 of Organic Law 2018-10 of 12 February 2018 on regions. Operating revenue is derived from operating subsidies granted by the finance act and from fees from the land, income from the use of their assets and fees for services rendered. Investment revenue includes: (i) temporary or exceptional revenue - in particular gifts and bequests, assistance funds, loan funds, the proceeds of the sale of goods, the transfer or exchange of buildings, the proceeds of duly authorised extraordinary additional contributions; (ii) credits allocated by the State budget or any other public body in the form of assistance funds for major urban development works and capital expenditure; and (iii) deductions made for the benefit of the investment section from the operating section.

According to Article 54 of the Law, the regions are generally competent to determine the tariffs or remunerative taxes of the regional domain and services under the conditions provided by the laws and regulations in force. To date, only the Nouakchott region, which inherited the Urban Community of Nouakchott’s (CUN) tax revenues, levies taxes and duties.

TAX REVENUE: In addition to the additional percentage tax and rebates from national taxes, the local tax system includes taxes and duties on developed property - the property tax and the housing tax - and taxes on economic activities - the business tax (patente), the communal tax and the property tax on agricultural land. The system also includes port fees, the most significant of which are the tax on landed tonnage for the benefit of the communes of Nouakchott and Nouadhibou and the tax on fish exports for the benefit of the commune of Nouadhibou.

GRANTS AND SUBSIDIES: State grants and subsidies to Mauritanian communes are made available through the Regional Development Fund (FRD, Fonds régional de développement). This Fund was created by Decree 2011.59 of 14 February 2011.

The FRD is an annual allocation from the State budget shared among the communes according to the following distribution key: (i) a flat-rate share of 15% of the FRD is distributed equally among all the country's communes, (ii) a share of 20% of the FRD is distributed on the basis of the poverty level of each commune, (iii) a share of 40% is distributed on the basis of the total population of each commune, and finally (iv) a share of 15% is distributed on the basis of the backlog of equipment in each commune.10% of the total FRD budget is retained by the administrative services of the Ministry of the Interior and Decentralisation for its management. According to the government's guidelines, 70% of the FRD's resources should be devoted by the communes to their investment expenditure and 30% to their operating expenditure

In 2020, financial transfers from the State to the communes under the FRD amounted to MRU 350 million, i.e., approximately USD 30 million PPP and USD 6.5 PPP per capita, representing 0.5% of State revenues. This amount is stable compared to 2019.

The allocations for the operation of the regional councils created in 2018 vary from one region to another. In 2020, for the Gorgol region, an agricultural region with a population of 350 000, these allocations amounted to MRU 14 million, approximately USD 1.2 million PPP and USD 3.4 PPP per capita.

An equalisation and solidarity fund for the benefit of the regions is to be created by decree (Article 58 of Law 2018-010 of 12 February 2018 on regions).

ⓘ No detailed data available for this country

FISCAL RULES: In Mauritania, the financial system of local and regional authorities is based on the budgetary principles laid down in the finance laws and the procedures of public accounting. The State exerts legality control over all their operations.

Any change or rearrangement in the budget, as well as any related deliberation, is only enforceable after the joint approval of the ministries of finance and decentralisation. The transfer from one article to another within the same chapter may nevertheless be carried out by order of the mayor or the president of the regional council, unlike transfers of funds from one chapter to another, which must be submitted to the approval of the said supervisory authorities.

DEBT: The use of loans and loan guarantees as a means of financing local and regional authorities is an authorised mechanism provided for by the texts in force. However, at present this remains almost non-existent due to the lack of an appropriate institutional and operational framework, both at central and local level. Moreover, in view of their weak financial base, communes appear to be less-than-reliable clients for creditors.

The Deposit and Development Fund (CDD, Caisse des dépôts et de développement), a public institution with special status created in 2012, can also intervene in the financing of local and regional authorities. However, this has never happened, with the exception of a loan made to the Association of Mayors of Mauritania for the acquisition of its headquarters.

TERRITORIAL MANAGEMENT OF THE CRISIS: As soon as the COVID-19 pandemic began, a national response plan was put in place. It is based on five complementary pillars: (i) health; (ii) planning, coordination and monitoring of the economic surveillance plan; (iii) measures to mitigate the socio-economic impact of the pandemic; (iv) resilience, economic recovery and access to basic services and (v) security aspects and prevention of the pandemic.

For the implementation of this plan, a Special Fund for Social Solidarity and the Fight against COVID-19 (3SL2C Fund) with a budget allocation of MRU 2 billion (approximately USD 170 million PPP) and open to the participation of national actors and partners was created by Decree 2020-051 of 6 April 2020. As of 31 December 2021, the Fund's overall budget reached MRU 9.5 billion (about USD 800 million PPP), equivalent to 3.1% of GDP, and one-third of this amount had been mobilised.

Measures taken to contain the pandemic included closing air borders to all commercial flights, closing all land borders, placing all travellers who arrived before the closure of borders in a health lockdown, banning travel between regions, instituting a nationwide curfew, stopping classes at all levels of national education, closing all markets and public places, and banning all activities that lead to large gatherings of people.

The involvement of local and regional authorities in the national strategy to combat COVID-19 has remained limited and coordination between the central government and local and regional authorities to ensure effective territorialisation of crisis management has been weak.

EMERGENCY MEASURES TO COPE WITH THE CRISIS AT DIFFERENT LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT : The Special Fund for Social Solidarity and the Fight against COVID-19 has contributed to mitigating the effects of the pandemic on vulnerable groups by procuring medicines and health equipment needed to fight COVID-19 and by supporting families through the provision of food baskets, cash and paying water and electricity bills. Similarly, the Fund has ensured that all customs taxes on basic necessities are covered, as well as taxes on small trades and similar activities, and for families working in the small-scale fishing sector.

Some local and regional authorities have taken individual measures and initiatives within their territory to support the most disadvantaged populations by distributing basic foodstuffs free of charge, ensuring that public buildings are disinfected, carrying out awareness-raising activities and ensuring compliance with barrier measures.

IMPACTS OF THE CRISIS ON SUBNATIONAL GOVERNMENT FINANCE: The impact of the pandemic on the finances of local and regional authorities cannot be accurately assessed due to the lack of quantitative data.

At the national level, COVID-19 has had a negative impact on the dynamics of the national economy. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at current prices, which was expected to grow by 6.3% in 2020, has been set at -3.2%, marking a net loss compared to the initial forecasts for 2020, i.e., a difference of more than 9 GDP points.

The crisis has had negative effects on the institutional functioning of local and regional authorities as well as on revenue, particularly for communes which derive a large part of their income from sources linked to economic and commercial activity. Communes receiving a major part of their revenue in the form of State grants and subsidies were less affected, as transfers were essentially maintained.

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL STIMULUS PLANS: In addition to the national pandemic response plan, the central government has put in place the president's Extended Priority Programme (PROPEP, Programme prioritaire élargi du président) worth MRU 24.2 billion (approximately USD 2 billion PPP) for a period of 30 months from 30 September 2020. This programme is structured around the following areas: (i) development of infrastructure to support growth; (ii) improvement of social provision and support for demand; (iii) development of the potential of the productive sectors and acceleration of the achievement of food self-sufficiency; (iv) support for the private sector (formal and informal); (v) reforestation and creation of green jobs; and (vi) governance and implementation of the programme.

This programme plans to focus on making better use of the national potential, particularly in the livestock, fisheries and renewable energy sectors, as well as on stimulating private sector activity and making use of information and communication technologies, so as to stimulate sustainable, endogenous economic growth. The programme does not mention any particular involvement of local and regional authorities in its implementation.