Currency in Mauritania: MRO Send & Spend FX Guide
Resources for Expats, Travelers, and Entrepreneurs Navigating Life and Trade in Mauritania with the Mauritanian ouguiya.
What's in this Mauritania currency guide?
What currency is used in Mauritania?
The official currency of Mauritania (country code: MR) is the Mauritanian ouguiya, with symbol UM and currency code MRO.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What currency should I use in Mauritania?
The domestic currency in Mauritania is the Mauritanian ouguiya.
What is the Mauritanian ouguiya currency code and symbol?
The three letter currency code for the Mauritanian ouguiya is MRO — symbol is UM.
What doe the Mauritanian ouguiya look like?
Here is an example Mauritanian ouguiya banknote:
Which countries use the Mauritanian ouguiya?
It is the domestic currency in Mauritania.
Is the Mauritanian ouguiya a closed currency?
No, the Mauritanian ouguiya is freely available and convertible. See guide: What is a closed currency?
What are equivalent amounts of USD and MRO?
Here are some popular conversion amounts for USD to MRO (US dollar to Mauritanian ouguiya)*.
*Converted at the current USDMRO interbank exchange rate. Calculate actual payout amounts for Send Money and Travel Money exchange rates.
Things to know about the Mauritanian ouguiya
The Mauritanian ouguiya (MRO) is the official currency of Mauritania, a country located in northwest Africa. Here are a few things to know about the Mauritanian ouguiya:
- The Mauritanian ouguiya is abbreviated as MRO and is divided into 5 khoums.
- The Central Bank of Mauritania is responsible for issuing and regulating the Mauritanian ouguiya.
- The exchange rate for the Mauritanian ouguiya is determined by supply and demand in the foreign exchange market.
- Mauritania has a largely agricultural economy, with a significant portion of the population engaged in farming and livestock production. The country is also a major producer of iron ore and has a growing fishing industry.
- The Mauritanian ouguiya has experienced significant depreciation in recent years due to economic challenges such as high inflation and a large trade deficit. In addition, Mauritania has faced political instability and conflict, which have also had an impact on the value of the Mauritanian ouguiya.
Travel money for Mauritania
Using Wise for Mauritanian ouguiya travel money is a smart choice for savvy travelers. With its competitive exchange rates and low fees, Wise allows you to convert and manage multiple currencies effortlessly.
Be careful when using your own bank's Debit/Credit Card, as your bank may also charge an extra 3% as an “Overseas Transaction Charge” plus “Overseas ATM” fees for withdrawing cash on top of the standard Visa/Mastercard 2.5% from market mid-rate.
For card purchases, if you are offered a choice of currencies always select to Pay in Mauritanian ouguiya otherwise you will typically get much worst dynamic currency conversion (DCC) exchange rates.
If you really want Mauritanian ouguiya cash before departure, you can save money by ordering online. You generally get better rates and can pick up the MRO cash locally or even on travel day at the airport.
There's no doubt that Mauritania has some of the continent's grandest scenery. The Saharan Adrar region, with its World Heritage–listed caravan towns, is currently off-limits for security reasons, but the desert is a constant presence elsewhere, pushing hard up against the Atlantic Coast. Millions of migratory birds winter along the coast at Parc National du Banc d'Arguin, and the expanding capital Nouakchott is where modernity takes root in the desert.
Mauritania, with one of the world's lowest population densities, is almost equally divided between Moors of Arab-Berber descent and black Africans, a striking cultural combination that is part of its appeal.
What currency to use in Mauritania?
The unit of currency is the ouguiya (UM). There are plenty of ATMs in Nouakchott and a handful in Nouâdhibou. It's best to take euros or US dollars as back-up.
Getting around in Mauritania.
Mauritania Airlines flies daily (except Wednesday) between Nouakchott and Nouâdhibou, and twice a week via Zouérat. Tickets can be purchased at the airline's office in Nouakchott or most travel agencies.
Mauritania is a country in love with police roadblocks, and you’ll frequently be asked to produce ID, especially when entering or leaving a town. This is usually a straightforward procedure and police are generally polite. Your details are registered, so to speed things up make your own form (fiche or ordre de mission) to hand over. Mauritania's primary road network is mostly good, with tarred roads leading from the border with Western Sahara to Nouakchott, and on to the Senegalese and Malian borders at Rosso and Nioro respectively. The roads from the capital to Atâr and Tidjikja are also tarred. Elsewhere, piste is the order of the day, although great swathes of the country are little more than sandy tracks at best.
Minibus routes stitch together the main towns and cities linked by tarmac roads. The Nouâdhibou–Zouérat train is certainly an epic adventure when the security situation permits. It's an iron-ore train with no passenger terminals, but it's become a passenger train for lack of better alternatives.
Is it safe in Mauritania?
There is an ongoing threat of kidnapping against westerners throughout Mauritania. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and other groups have specifically targeted and kidnapped foreigners in parts of North Africa and pose a significant security threat in Mauritania. Much of the country is remote and terrorist and criminal groups have ease of movement across porous national borders. There remains a strong possibility that foreigners kidnapped by tribal groups could be on-sold to AQIM. Travel to Mauritania is ill advised due to persistent crime and terrorism activity.
There is a high threat from terrorism in Mauritania. Terrorist attacks could be directed against any locations known to be frequented by foreigners, as well as premises and symbols associated with the Government of Mauritania.
USD/MRO Market Data
The below interactive chart displays the USD/MRO change and UP📈 DOWN📉 trends over the past 1 Year.
Send Money to Mauritania - Best Rates
To get a good (and fair) exchange rate when sending money to Mauritania you need to find and compare exchange rates for International Money Transfers (IMTs).
The available FX rates for sending money abroad can be very different to the mid-market (wholesale) rate which you see reported online and in the News.
You should especially compare your own bank's exchange rates to those available from Money Transfer specialists to see how much you can save - we make that calculation easy in the below table.
Get a better deal for foreign transfers to Mauritania
When sending money to Mauritania it’s important to compare your bank’s rates & fees with those we have negotiated with our partner money transfer providers. To get a better deal you should follow these 4 simple steps :
- Open an account with a BER reviewed FX provider (id docs may be required)
- You specify the local or Mauritanian ouguiya amount you want to transfer
- Make a local currency domestic transfer for the requested amount to the provider's bank account in your country
- Once your funds are received by the provider the converted MRO amount will be transfered to the recipient account you specify in Mauritania.
Use the above calculator to compare the exchange rates of FX specialist providers rates versus your bank's standard rates you can hopefully save around 5% and maybe more - end result is more Mauritanian ouguiya deposited into the recipient bank account and less margins and fees kept by the banks!