The Lending Association for Young People (LAYP) has been launched this month in Mauritania with the purpose of contributing to the financing of small business projects that are led by youth [1]. Economist Ba Hamadi has been quoted as saying LAYP will be beneficial because “thus far, the limited and fairly unprofessional activity of the micro-finance sector has not enabled it to achieve either profitability or the critical mass necessary for it to thrive” [1]. He also added “[t]here used to be loans for graduates, but these days you have to have connections in order to find anything. So, I’m hoping that things will improve with this new association created by young people themselves.”
Information on the number of loans, interest rates and the types of projects which will be financed by LAYP has not been identified. The youth unemployment rate in Mauritania stood near 53 percent in 2004, the most recent year for which data are available [3]. As of 2011, estimates for youth unemployment in North Africa are near 25 percent [7]. Youth unemployment refers to the share of the labor force aged 15 to 24 without work but available for and seeking employment [4].
The US-based NGO Microfinance Information Exchange reports no data on microfinance institutions in Mauritania.
By Courtney Snelling, Research Associate
Sources and Additional Resources:
[1] Magharebia.com: “Mauritanian Youths Launch Microfinance Fund” by Bakari Gueye, 1/15/2012
http://magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2012/01/15/feature-01
[2] Global Arab Network: “The Highest in the World – 25% Youth Unemployment Rate in MENA Region” by Ahmed Gamal, 5/19/2011
[3] “World Bank Skills Development Support Project”, by World Bank. 2010
[4] World Bank (WB): “Unemployment, youth male (% of male labor force ages 15-24)” http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.UEM.1524.MA.ZS/countries/MR?displ…
[5] “Youth Unemployment a Major Challenge for African Countries”, April 26, 2009, The World Bank,
[6] “Youth and Employment in Africa: The Potential, the Problem, the Promise”, The World Bank
[7] “Global Employment Trends for Youth: 2011 Update”, October 2011, ILO
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