The New Bank of Mauritania (NBM) is looking to get back on the right foot following the recomposition of its shareholding, enshrining the takeover of the establishment by Westbridge Mortgage REIT, a financial institution specializing in real estate financing in Canada.

To this end, it has just presented its new directors chosen at the end of the Combined General Meeting of May 22, 2020 "for their leadership, their vision and their desire to participate in the development of Mauritania," said a statement from the bank.

Appointed directors for four-year terms, James Clayton, Chairman of the Board of Directors, JD Diabira, Chief Executive Officer of Westbridge Mortgage REIT, Jacques Raiche, Director and Master Sylvère Koyo, Admikistrator, will have the heavy task of getting a bank back on track in a context of economic crisis exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The NBM press release specifies that "the General Meeting has approved the appointment of three (03) other directors who will be co-opted shortly" and that this "recomposition of the Board of Directors, will now meet the requirements of banking regulations in terms of governance of credit institutions edict."

James Clayton, the new Chairman and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Westbridge Mortgage REIT, said: "The advent of world-class oil and gas production, the shortage of adequate housing and real estate and, the aim of revitalizing the microfinance sector in Nouakchott are major catalysts helping to boost unprecedented economic growth in the country."

From 2002 to 2014, Westbridge was a subsidiary of mortgage securitization firm Riskmont Institutional Loans Trading, a group sold in 2013 to U.S. interests. Since 2014, it has operated as Westbridge Mortgage REIT with Ottawa and Calgary bases.

Today, the group's expansion in Africa is reflected in its Holding Westbridge Africa.