Madar (Nouakchott) - Mauritania's National Assembly on Friday 6 November 2026 passed a bill on the promotion and development of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, at a plenary session chaired by one of its vice-presidents, according to the Mauritanian News Agency (AMI).
Presenting the bill to MPs, the Minister for Youth Empowerment, Employment, Sports and Civic Service, Mohamed Abdallahi Ould Louly, said it aims to make these businesses more competitive, encourage entrepreneurship, ease access to finance and training, and lighten the tax burden on companies that create jobs, especially for young people and women, the agency reported.
The minister said the 13-chapter bill sets a single legal definition for these businesses and seeks to make public employment policy more effective and to bring informal-sector activity into the national economy. He described it as a "stable and accessible" legal framework that would turn the state's commitments into practical tools for job creation and for organising and diversifying the productive base.
MPs stressed the role of these businesses in development, fighting poverty and expanding the middle class. They called for them to be able to take part in public procurement, to be protected from unequal competition with large companies, particularly foreign firms working in the same fields, and for their tax burden to be eased.
A parliamentary committee had examined the bill with the minister in late October before it went to the plenary session.
