An economist and connoisseur of the Mauritanian banking sector, Dieng Adama was co-opted by the Canadian group Westbridge Mortgage REIT, newly established in Mauritania, after the acquisition of Nouvelle Banque de Mauritanie (NBM).

A new adventure for this expert with more than 30 years of career at the Central Bank of Mauritania.

Dieng Adama's major challenge is to rebuild the NBM around the priorities of the Canadian real estate finance specialist with a strong focus on recovery and financial inclusion. Maintenance.

The acquisition of NBM by the Westbridge Mortgage REIT group is welcomed by most players in the Mauritanian private sector as a challenge, especially after so many years of crisis and poor governance within this bank. How do you plan to meet the challenges and set the record straight?


Indeed, for all those who know the current situation of the bank and God knows that there are many of them (between depositors, individuals, public companies, projects, public institutions, correspondents, various creditors and banks space), setting the clock back is a real challenge. But I like to take up challenges: to do so, our priorities consist of first reassuring our customers by disinteresting individual depositors and suppliers as quickly as possible and by settling disputes. We must then reach agreements with public institutions and correspondents to spread out the repayment of our bank's commitments within a suitable period. Emphasis will be placed on the recovery and rehabilitation of the bank with the closure of unprofitable branches, the redeployment of staff and the compression of charges...


The WMR group is known for its experience in real estate financing. What could be the level of contribution of your bank in the financing of private or public real estate programs in the country?


Mauritanian banks, whether conventional or Islamic, with private Mauritanian or foreign capital, are all retail banks favoring very short-term loans; this trend can be explained, among other things, by the scarcity of long-term resources. The arrival of the WMR group with proven experience in real estate financing is an opportunity for Mauritanians and our ambition is to make real estate credit accessible to citizens both local and those in the diaspora. We intend to support the authorities in the implementation of their ambitious program of construction and rehabilitation of religious, cultural and sports infrastructures.


The establishment of WMR in Mauritania could boost mixed investments between Canadian promoters and these Mauritanians. What does your structure plan to support this momentum?


Westbridge Mortgage joins a growing list of Canadian firms in Mauritania, including Kinross Gold and AL GOLD Resources; the group will not only help companies already established to increase or strengthen their investments in the country, but also WMR will attract other North American investors to Mauritania.


Mauritania is known for a low banking rate. What could be the solution of your bank to bring this rate to a much more respectable level?


Indeed, the banking rate in Mauritania is one of the lowest in the sub-region, around 14% against 22% in Morocco, 18.5% in Senegal and 16.6% in Côte d'Ivoire. ; however, it is established that the banking rate is a lever for economic and social development. Independently of the takeover of the NBM, the WMR group has filed an application for approval of a participatory bank. Obtaining this approval will make this institution a financing and technical assistance platform for other local microfinance institutions; the group will set up a line of financing of nearly 15 million dollars over 3 years for a few microfinance institutions. The group plans to organize participatory finance days by the end of 2020 where major international institutions will take part to share their experiences in financing microfinance. These investments are likely to raise the banking rate.


What will be the prospects for your structure over the next 5 years?


The Mauritanian market is very buoyant and potential, the product is salable and we will make it accessible to customers. By March 2021, the bank will meet all standards required by the Central Bank, Basel III and Canadian regulations; at the end of the next 5, we will be a reference bank at the level of the sub-region and, why not, the first bank in the sub-region.