A delegation from the Islamic Development Bank Institute (IsDBI) concluded a scoping mission to the Central Bank of Mauritania (CBM) from 31 July – 1 August 2023 to discuss the technical assistance for enabling the environment for implementing Islamic finance in Mauritania.

The Deputy Governor of CBM, Mr. Boumedienne Taya, received the IsDBI team comprising Dr. Abdallahi Mohamed, Senior Financial Product Development Specialist, and Dr. Abozer Mohamed, Senior Islamic Finance Specialist.

The visit was in response to the CBM’s request for technical assistance to assist in creating an enabling environment for the implementation of Islamic banking and finance in Mauritania, in line with the CBM’s objectives of developing regulatory, supervisory, and governance frameworks for Islamic banking.

During the two-day meetings, the IsDBI team met with various departments of the CBM and other stakeholders to discuss the issues and challenges related to the development of Islamic banking and finance in Mauritania.

The scope of the technical assistance project will include a comprehensive gap analysis of the existing regulatory framework of CBM, drafting a regulatory framework for Islamic banks to cover all prudential standards, and preparing operational manuals covering supervisory Shariah board tasks, duties, and reporting mechanisms.

It will also include reviewing the current payment system and its suitability to Islamic banks and proposing amendments based on best practices, a study of the existing CBM liquidity facility to develop and offer Shariah-compliant instruments specifically for CBM liquidity management and interbank instruments, and training CBM staff and other relevant stakeholders on the newly introduced regulations, tools, and frameworks.