• Mauritania launches a unified national standard for digital public services

• Authorities aim to improve interoperability, efficiency, and user experience

• The country ranks 165th globally in the 2024 UN e-government index

Mauritania has launched a process to establish a unified national quality standard for digital public services, authorities said, as the government accelerates administrative digitalization across sectors.

Several African governments have expanded digital public services in recent years. However, Mauritania has identified the need for a harmonized framework to ensure consistency at the national level.

Authorities organized a workshop from March 24 to March 26 through the Ministry of Digital Transformation and Administrative Modernization, in partnership with Germany.

During the event, officials presented the project’s technical study and implementation mechanism to stakeholders from the public and private sectors as well as academia. They invited participants to review and adopt the framework.

According to the Mauritanian Information Agency, Minister Ahmed Salem Bede said the initiative aims to establish a unified national framework that ensures consistency in the design and development of digital services.

He added that the framework will improve interoperability between government systems and platforms, support the reuse of shared components, optimize resources, and enhance user experience and service quality.

He said standardization of digital services “is no longer an option” but has become an urgent technical and strategic necessity. He warned that the absence of common standards creates costly system fragmentation and degrades service quality for citizens.

The initiative comes as Mauritania accelerates the digitalization of public services across sectors. Authorities have already digitized several services, including driver’s license applications, the road traffic digital system, criminal record issuance, vehicle registration documents, and loss certificates for official documents.

Authorities have also digitized services from the national electricity company. They have integrated these services into the “Khdamati” digital platform.

Meanwhile, the government continues to position digital tools as a lever to improve administrative efficiency and expand access to public services.

In January 2025, the government launched the “Digital-Y” project with €4 million ($4.6 million) in funding in partnership with German cooperation. The project aims to deepen the integration of digital tools in public administration, modernize services, and strengthen transparency.

Despite these efforts, Mauritania still lags behind in global digital governance rankings. The country ranks 165th worldwide in the 2024 E-Government Development Index published by the United Nations, with a score of 0.3491 out of 1, below both African and global averages.

Among the index components, Mauritania records its lowest performance in online services, with a score of 0.1688 out of 1.

Isaac K. Kassouwi