From 1974 to 1993, Société Mauritanienne d'Assurance et de Réassurance (SMAR), with public capital, enjoyed by the law of 1974 a monopoly on the insurance and reinsurance market. The opening of the market that the Mauritanian legislator had attempted by adopting three ordinances of 1991 ending the monopoly of SMAR had attracted no investor, whether Mauritanian or foreign, in the insurance sector. SMAR which was in bankruptcy was dissolved at the end of December 1993. Renowned international reinsurers had lost all confidence in the Mauritanian insurance market. In the context of the generalized crisis of the insurance sector which prevailed the promulgation of the Mauritanian insurance code (Law 93-40 of July 20, 1993), the opening of the market mentioned above had therefore failed to solve the equation and the impasse was total.

After the dissolution of SMAR, a new public capital company NASR (Nationale d'Assurance and Reinsurance) was created on a transitional basis, with the privatization of SMAR in sight. It began its activities on January 1, 1994, and its privatization took place at the beginning of January 1995, to become NASR S.A.
The way out of the crisis was therefore made possible thanks to the creation of a first private insurance company, capable

• To play a key role and maintain its leading position on an insurance market whose diagnosis, according to the international audit, was dysfunctional for multiple causes;
• To restore the confidence of international reinsurers without whom no insurance activity can be carried out by a direct insurance company.

These are the major challenges that NASR S.A. has managed to meet in a very short period of time. This is how its reinsurers who are the world's leading reinsurers place a complete trust in it, as NASR S.A. is cited as an example in Africa and the Maghreb in the punctuality in terms of payment of sums due to our reinsurers, technicality and professionalism. In terms of compulsory or optional cessions, many African reinsurance companies and international organizations participate in its programme. This sign of vitality is a tangible proof of the dynamism of NASR S.A., a company in constant expansion since 1995.
As for the liberalization of the market, once the confidence of reinsurers has been restored, NASR S.A. gained stable growth and other private insurance companies started their operations in Mauritania as early as 1999.

Since its creation, NASR S.A. has spared no effort to popularize all insurance products, and to take into account the specific needs of its Mauritanian and/or foreign customers.