sel licenses have held
GDP growth to an average of 1% over the past decade.

Martinique
The economy is based on sugarcane, bananas, tourism, and
light industry. Agriculture accounts for about 6% of GDP and the
small industrial sector for 11%. Sugar production has declined, with
most of the sugarcane now used for the production of rum. Banana
exports are increasing, going mostly to France. The bulk of meat,
vegetable, and grain requirements must be imported, contributing to
a chronic trade deficit that requires large annual transfers of aid
from France. Tourism, which employs more than 11,000 people, has
become more important than agricultural exports as a source of
foreign exchange.

Mauritania
Half the population still depends on agriculture and
livestock for a livelihood, even though many of the nomads and
subsistence farmers were forced into the cities by recurrent
droughts in the 1970s and 1980s. Mauritania has extensive deposits
of iron ore, which account for nearly 40% of total exports. The
decline in world demand for this ore, however, has led to cutbacks
in production. The nation's coastal waters are among the richest
fishing areas in the world, but overexploitation by foreigners
threatens this key source of revenue. The country's first deepwater
port opened near Nouakchott in 1986. In the past, drought and
economic mismanagement resulted in a buildup of foreign debt. In
February 2000, Mauritania qualified for debt relief under the
Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative and in December
2001 received strong support from donor and lending countries at a
triennial Consultative Group review. In 2001, exploratory oil wells
in tracts 80 km offshore indicated potential extraction at current
world oil prices. A new investment code approved in December 2001
improved the opportunities for direct foreign investment. Ongoing
negotiations with the IMF involve problems of economic reforms and
fiscal discipline. Substantial oil production and exports probably
will not begin until 2005. Meantime the government emphasizes
reduction of poverty, improvement of health and education, and
promoting privatization of the economy.

Mauritius
Since independence in 1968, Mauritius has developed from a
low-income, agriculturally based economy to a middle-income
diversified economy with growing industrial, financial, and tourist
sectors. For most o