Mauritania - Mauritanian ouguiya - Currency Guide

MRO News, Forecasts and Trends

Travel, Currency and Money saving tips for Mauritania

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.

Travel money for Mauritania

Save money and time by Ordering your Mauritanian ouguiya online from Travelex, you get better rates and can pick up the MRO cash locally or even on travel day at the airport.

Another popular option is to use a Pre-paid Travel Card. Your Debit/Credit Card provider will charge you 2% from market mid-rate, but your bank may also charge an extra 3% as an “Overseas Transaction Charge” plus “Overseas ATM” fees for withdrawing cash.

For card purchases if offered a choice of currencies always select to Pay in Mauritanian ouguiya otherwise you may get much worst exchange rates.

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 :

1. Open an account with a BER reviewed FX provider (id docs may be required)
2. You specify the local or Mauritanian ouguiya amount you want to transfer
3. Make a local currency domestic transfer for the requested amount to the provider's bank account in your country
4. 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 Send to Mauritanian ouguiya 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!