In Other News…

The Central Bank of Mauritania has issued an upgraded new 50 ouguiya note celebrating the 50th anniversary of the currency, which was introduced in 1973 to replace the CFA franc (ouguiya is the Hassaniya Arabic pronunciation of ugiyyah, meaning ‘ounce’).

Mauritania’s current series, introduced in 2018, is all-polymer. But in 2023, it carried out a trial of three different commemorative 50 ouguiya (MRU) notes on paper or composite substrates – one on Louisenthal’s Hybrid ADDvance®, one on Landqart’s Durasafe, and one on Highlink™ Sisal from Oberthur Fiduciaire.

Security features common to all three were a watermark with electrotype, Galaxy® micro-mirror thread from Louisenthal and SICPA’s SPARK Flow® DIMENSION. The design was the same for all three – including the Ibn Abbass mosque and a traditional teapot featuring a star and crescent on the front, and musical instruments on the back, supplemented with images of the central bank headquarters, wind turbines and solar panels.