Announcement of Mauritania Receives Eight Million Dollars IDA Credit for Urban and Rural Development Project on March 29, 1979

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE , .world Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A.• Telephone: (202) 477-1234 IDA NEWS RELEASE NO. 79/53 March 29, 1979' MAURITANIA RECEIVES $8 MILLION IDA CREDIT FOR URBAN AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROJECT The International Development Association {IDA), the World Bank's affiliate for concessionary lending, has approved a credit of $8 million to the Islamic Republic of Mauritania. The project will provide financial and technical assistance under separate operations to three sectors--small- and medium-scale industries (SMls), artisans, and small village irrigated agriculture. The overall aim of the pr0ject is to relieve urban and rural poverty by creating increased employment and income opportunities in these sectors; addi- tionally, the project will allow needed improvements in sector policy, administrative procedures, and instltut1on building. • The industrial component will result in increased productivity, em- ployment (approximately 175 new jobs), and foreign exchange savings in that sector. Implementation of the artisan sector wi 11 al low an increase in carpet production from 1,500 square meters to 7,800 square meters a year, and will create about 300 new jobs at an average cost per job of $2,600. The agricultural component will increase rice paddy production by about 3,000 tons a year, and create about 700 additional days of work annually each for about 1,800 small-scale farmers. The project also provides for consulting services to study the feasibility of establishing an artisanal gypsum plaster brick industry to replace expensive imported cement, and of creating a new industrial zone in the capital city of Nouakchott. The IDA credit of $8 million will cover 100% of foreign costs plus 57% of tax-free local costs. The credit is for 50 years, including 10 years of grace. It will bear no interest, except for a service charge of 3/4 of 1% per annum to cover IDA's administrative services. NOTE: Money figures are expressed in U.S. dollar equivalents . • FORM NO. 1121 (5-76) T EC HNI CAL D A T A PROJECT: COUNTRY: TOTAL COST: Urban and Rural Development Islamic Republic of Mauritania $9. 297 mi 11 ion $8 million, standard IDA terms • IDA FINANCING: OTHER FINANCING~ $0.75 million from local entrepreneurs $0.55 million Government participation JMPLEMENTING ORGANIZATION: Banque Mauritanienne Societe Nationale pour pour le Developpement le Developpement Rural et le Commerce (BMDC); (SONADER) Boite Postale 219 Boite Postale 321 Nouakchott, Mauritanie Nouakchott, Mauritanie Office Mauritanien de 1 'Artisanat et du Tourisme (OMAT) c/o Ministere de 1 'Envir0nnement, de 1 'Habitat, du Tourisme et de 1 'Art i sana t Nouakchott, Mauritanie PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The project includes three separate components to provide financial and technical assistance: (i) to the industrial sector for development of small- and medium-scale enterprises promising substantiall. lower investment costs per job than currently; (ii) to the artisan sector for rehabi litation and expanding the production of knotted carpets by decentralizing production and improving training of weavers; and (iii) to the agricultural sector for develop- ment of 30 new irrigated schemes under village cooperatives, including an adequate credit scheme. The project also provides for consulting services to study the feasi- bility of establishing an artisanal gypsum plaster brick industry to replace expen- sive imported cement with locally made bricks, and of creating a new industrial zone in the capital city of Nouakchott. PROCUREMENT: The only project inputs suitable for international competi- tive bidding (ICB) are the irrigation pumps (about $0.95 million). Procurement of these items will therefore be su~iect to ICB procedures. Al 1 other project goods and services wi 11 be procured fol le... ,19 competitive bidding under local government procedures acceptable to the Association. CONSULTANTS: Industrial component: three man-years of technical assist- ance; Artisan component: four man-years of technic~l assistance; Small-scale agriculture component: five and one-half man-years of technical assistance. ECONOMIC RATE OF RETURN: 22% on the artisan componen~ 31% on the agricultural component ESTfMATED COMPLETION DATE: 1985 - 0 - •