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This paper examines the ways in which moral entrepreneurs in Mauritanian Moorish society have tried to link up with the global Islamic finance networks set up in the early 1970s. The authors first discuss the place of Mauritanian groups involved in this process within traditional Moorish social structures. With the use of examples, they then analyze the creation and development of Mauritanian financial instruments and their relationship with global Islamic finance networks. The third part of the paper concentrates on some of the most important local actors and their tribal and Islamic backgrounds, usually connected to the Muslim Brotherhood network.