Mauritania is big (its territory equals to that of Egypt) but underpopulated (less than 4 people per square kilometer). It claims its origin from the Berber Kingdom Mauritania, which had conquered all of Mediterranean and part of Europe (including Spain, Italy and Greece) in the first century BC. However, some historians question this theory on a basis that present day Mauritania is placed on a map far to the south from the ancient Berber’s Empire.
Not unlike other newly formed African states, Mauritania had followed a very difficult historical path from mid-XX century till now. Since 1960 Mauritania government had been displaced multiple times by staged coops d’etat. Flows of extreme violence had been followed by temporary peace agreements. This cycle continues up to present times (with a latest coop dating back to 2008).
Mauritania has very diverse population, with three major national groups — Bidhar, Haratin and West African — competing for scarcer resources control and for domination over the central government. However, deep political, economic and social devisions existing between those groups prevent them from reaching a long-term peace solution.
Economically Mauritania is one of the poorest countries on earth. Its economy is mostly agricultural and export mainly consists from oil and iron ore. Socially Mauritania is held back by traditions rooted in difficult history of this country. In 1980th it became the last place on earth where slavery was legally banished. Even today, according to reports of multiple independent observers, almost 4% of Mauritania population is still enslaved.
Mauritania is one of the least populated countries in Africa, which makes it costly for telecommunication companies to reach almost halve of country’s population living in deserted rural areas. However, if fixed Internet penetration rate in Mauritania is very low, mobile networks are growing very fast. That creates an opportunity for startups founders. Building e-businesses on the mobile platform is the best way to reach the majority of 4 million people of this country.
However, the profitability would a long-term issue for high tech entrepreneurs in Mauritania, which is one of the poorest countries in the world. Besides, constant threat of political upheavals, high legal and regulatory barriers as well as absence of seed and VC financing put the future of startup ecosystem in Mauritania under the question.
Business Notes for Startups Founders:
- political climate: not friendly;
- economic climate: not friendly;
- regions to focus: locally;
- industries to focus: FinTech, e-commerce, marketplaces;
- major limitations: falling GDP growth rate (now stands at 2%), subsistence agriculture based economy (GDP at $4.6 billion), low-income consumers (more than halve lives in poor rural areas), inadequate for SME legal and tax systems (personal income tax rate stands at 40%), high level of political instability, low density of population, low fixed Internet penetration rate (less than 20%);
- stimulus: Internet expansion rate exceeds 15% yearly;
- opportunities: to build a local FinTech company on quickly expanding mobile Internet market.