Credit card declined in Mauritania

The short answer is that your card will not work most of the time. Mauritania is an all-cash economy for travelers. The problem is that the banking infrastructure is not well-developed for international credit card payments. My advice is to find an ATM at a major bank branch and withdraw a good amount of cash. Don't count on your card to work for anything but a major international hotel, and even then, you should have cash as a backup.

Don't worry about it too much; it’s not your card, it’s the country's system. Credit card acceptance is rare outside of a few tourist-focused spots. The best way to deal with this is to always have cash on you. I'd recommend finding a good exchange office to get Mauritanian Ouguiya (MRU) from US dollars or Euros. It's a bit of a hassle, but it's the only way to ensure you can pay for taxis, meals, and other services.

You'll find that credit cards are not widely accepted in Mauritania, and even when they are, the machines can be unreliable. My friend had this same problem with a Mastercard. The best solution is to use cash, which is the most common form of payment. Your bank may also be flagging the transactions as high-risk, but even if they've approved them, the local network might be causing the issue. My advice is to just use cash for all your purchases.

This is a common issue for travelers in Mauritania. While you may have activated international transactions, the country is largely a cash-based society. Very few businesses, outside of some large hotels in Nouakchott, have card machines that are reliably connected to international payment networks. My advice is to get a good amount of local currency, the Ouguiya (MRU), from an ATM at a bank like BNP Paribas or Attijari Bank in Nouakchott. You should always carry cash for day-to-day expenses.