Taking the Pulse of North Africa 2015
Article Overview
To support private sector development, some countries also have embarked on programs to improve the efficiency and coverage of their banking systems. Egypt is expanding the use of mobile phones to handle financial transactions, while Mauritania’s efforts to modernize and improve the stability of the banking system have increased financial intermediation and the number of foreign banks. The government is also taking steps to expand Islamic finance.
Efforts are being made to deepen and improve the efficiency and outreach of North African financial systems. In Egypt, the launch of the mobile payment gateway is expected to enlarge the number of mobile users to gain access to financial services (e.g. pay bills, transfer funds, and withdraw cash). The government of Mauritania has taken steps to modernize and strengthen the stability of the financial sector, which has achieved some increase in financial intermediation (in part through public sensitization campaigns) and a rise in the number of foreign banks. Islamic finance
is expanding through the activities of four Islamic banks.
