Situated in the north-west of the African continent, the Islamic Republic of Mauritania is located between parallels 15°, 27°North and meridians 5º, 17 º west and bordered from west by the Atlantic Ocean on a length of 720 km and by the Senegal river over 700 km from the south, forming the natural border with the Republic of Senegal.
Mauritania has a unique geo-strategic location, it is a meeting point and a bridge between North and Sub-Saharan Africa, ship station on the Middle East-West African sea lines, and a natural gateway for Africa to Europe, which is only one flight hour, as well as off the coast of the American continent on the other bank of the Atlantic Ocean, which is a 5-hour flight distance.
The population is estimated to be 4.42million, of which 51% are under the age of 19; the population growth rate is 2.5%, while the average age is 63 years; the country has a high rate of urbanization.
Capital: Nouakchott
Major cities: Nouadhibou, Kiffa, Kaedi, Nema, Atar, Rosso, Zouerat …
Official language: Arabic
National languages: Arabic, Poular, Soninke, Wolof,
Currency: Ouguiya
National Day: 28 November.
Political system
The political system in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania is a pluralistic democratic one in which the president is elected by direct universal suffrage — the last presidential election of June 22nd, 2019 — was the beginning of a new phase of political consensus between various components of the political spectrum and openness vis-à-vis the opposition and civil society organizations. The 2012 amendments included the introduction of a large dose of proportional voting, the criminalization of military coups and the prevention of political nomadism, by retaining the parliamentary seat for the party and not for the person if the latter decides to join another political party, criminalizing slavery and establishing the multicultural nature of Mauritania.
The 2017 amendments included the abolition of the Senate (the high chamber of parliament) , establishment of regional councils in place of the Senate, so that they would follow up on the implementation of development projects for the population in the wilayas , amendments related to the national flag by adding two parallel red lines to value the sacrifices of Mauritanian resistance to colonialism and the sacrifices of martyrs for the homeland, as well as changing the national anthem(to listen) in a way that makes it more inspired by the country’s symbols and values.
The amendments also include expanding proportionality in general elections, and assembling some constitutional institutions such as the Supreme Islamic Council and the Mediator of the Republic into a single institution under the name of the Supreme Council for Fatwa and Grievances. the Economic and Social Council was extended to become the Economic, Social and Environmental Council.
Foreign Policy
Mauritania is strategically positioned to play an important role in the Arab-African rapprochement, as it is the gateway of the Arab world to Africa and a point of cultural convergence and human mixing in this region, allowing it to have the closest ties with the countries and peoples of the region. From its historical responsibility, Mauritania has chosen for itself an approach to its foreign policy based on pillars the most important of which is to promote national independence, strengthen relations and good neighborliness, not interfere in the internal affairs of others, support just causes in the world, play the role of honest mediator in resolving differences between Brothers, peaceful settlement of disputes and adherence to international conventions and treaties.
Mauritania is also seeking and working to establish a fairer international order by supporting the North-South dialogue to reach the necessary parity among the countries of the world. Mauritania is keen to attend all international forums to express its point of view and support just causes in the world, helped by its accession to all Arab, African and international organizations.
Mauritania plays an important role in its immediate regional environment, seeking to maintain security and peace in the region, through newly established regional groupings such as the G5-Sahel countries and the Nouakchott Track member states, and contributes to the international effort with the participation of units of various military and security formations in peacekeeping operations.
Economy
The country has recently undergone profound transformations, in the political, economic and social spheres. These transformations established the beginning of the launch of the development locomotive after a package of serious political and economic reforms was put in place. they enabled stability and peace, and allowed for improving major balances and containing inflation.
To improve the positive economic and social situation that has been achieved, [My Expanded Priority Program] is being introduced as a strategic vision for development that takes into account the challenges of diversifying the economy, valuing resources, sustaining wealth management, promoting growth and creating more jobs; in this context the State reviewed the investment regulations and introduced amendments to the law creating the free area in the economic capital Nouadhibou.
in order to stimulate investment opportunities, the trade law has also been reviewed in order to provide more guarantees to private investors.
The country’s important investment opportunities and features in high-value-added sectors, such as energy, fishing, agriculture, livestock productivity, food, mineral industries and tourism, are expected to attract more Foreign Direct Investments.
Energy
The energy sector has witnessed a remarkable dynamic that has enabled the doubling of production and the extension of more networks and the introduction of renewable energies. Experts predict promising prospects for this sector in view of the development and exploitation of the “Banda” field and the discovery of huge gas reserves by Kosmos and Chevron on Mauritanian shores to be exploited by the horizon of 2023.
The diversity of the country’s energy resources and the Mauritanian government’s awareness that energy is synonymous with development have created a qualitative boom in this sector. Mauritanian authorities have worked to develop a legislative and institutional framework that takes into account the importance of modernizing the sector and ensuring its transparency and adapting it to international standards, enabling the country to move from deficit to surplus electricity record production that is now being exported to some neighboring countries.
This resource is an important opportunity to invest in Mauritania in light of the severe shortages experienced by neighboring countries and the sub-region in general, which means that it constitutes a promising and proven profitable market.
The country’s sufficiency in the field of electricity will in the future enable the development of manufacturing industries and allow for a significant reduction in the cost of production. This energy is produced through dozens of power plants that pump hundreds of megawatts produced from the various energy resources available in the country, supported by a renewed distribution transport network, including high, medium and low voltage lines.
The country’s energy resources include gas, petroleum, thermal energy and hydropower, and Mauritania is expected to enter into an ambitious 30 Gigawatts green hydrogen production program , and the country has been able to occupy advanced ranks among the countries of the region in the field of renewable energy exploitation (solar; wind) where it is characterized by The country’s climate with sunny days covering the entire days of the year (365 days/8 hours per day), and winds of up to 7 m/s in the Nouadhibou region, ensuring a source of clean and renewable energy that is inexhaustible and in significant quantities that provide a promising investment opportunity in this sector.
Mineral resources
Available information, geological and physical data have enabled the discovery of more than 900 mineral indicators. The diversity of mineral resources in Mauritania has been a strong support for the country’s development, as confirmed by the successive expansions of mining companies, thus confirming that the sector, which has always been a lever for the national economy since independence, is strongly designated to contribute to the country’s economic and social development in the next phase.
Mauritania’s mineral wealth includes iron, gold, copper, phosphate, gypsum, sand, salt, quartz, diamonds, chromium, manganese, lead, platinum elements, rare earth, black earths.
The number of actors in the sector is more than 60 among them nationals and foreigners. They are engaged in mineral-related activities through dozens of exploitations and research permits. Additionally, several permits for the exploitation of more than 80 stone quarries, gypsum and shellfish, have been delivered.
The industrial and mineral sector has enormous potential and broad development prospects. it contributes to GDP by about 12%, and represents the majority of the country’s exports. this sector occupies, directly and indirectly, 10% of the labor force.
Mineral wealth reserves are estimated as follows:
Iron: more than 1.5 billion tons, Gold: more than 25 million ounces, Copper: about 28 million tons, Phosphate: more than 140 million tons, Quartz: more than 11 million tons, Salt more than 245 million tons, Gypsum: more than 6 billion tons.
The significant development in electricity production and the extension of electrical lines to mineral production areas, as well as the important investments in infrastructure like roads and ports, are expected to enhance the profitability of investment in this sector and open the door wide to increase transformative added value-oriented industries.
Fisheries
The fishing sector contributes significantly to Mauritania’s economic development through the important revenues it provides, as well as employment, major economic balances and food security.
This sector, which is a renewable source of wealth and occupies an important place in the national economy, is highly indicated to be one of the engines of economic transformation in the next phase.
The Mauritanian coast extends from the Senegal River Delta to the edge of The White Cape Bay on its seafront with a length of 754km, and the Islamic Republic of Mauritania has an Exclusive Economic Zone estimated to 200 miles with an area of 234.000km2 and a wide continental shelf of 39 000km². This area is known for its abundance and diversity of high global trade fish quality resources. More than 600 fish species have been identified, including 200 species of commercial and marketable value including cephalopods (octopus, squid, mollusk squid), crustacean fish (beach shrimp, deep shrimp, lobster, deep crabs), and surface fish.
Mauritanian coast is one of the richest in the world, with an estimated 1.8 million tons to be caught without disrupting the biological balances of stocks. large proportion of fish catches is still exported as raw products without transformation and manufacturing.
The fisheries containing this stock are divided into six main groups, 4 of which are benthic fisheries and 2 surface fisheries, and these fisheries are exploited through industrial and traditional fishing, the latter is the oldest fishing methods of Mauritanians.
Great efforts have been made in recent years in the field of upgrading and developing fishing infrastructure. The independent port of Nouadhibou has been expanded and cleaned through the removal of shipwrecks. the port of Comfort Bay has been renewed. the port of “Tanit” in the central region has been erected. a large polyvalent port in the southwest of Ndjago region has been built. the Fish Market in Nouakchott has been rehabilitated and roads to de-isolate fishermen’s villages have been constructed.
Factories working in the processing of sea products on land also witnessed a qualitative shift, moving from 50 factories in 2006 to 94 in 2014, including 97% approved by European markets and responding to the standards required for this purpose. The significant increase in the number of factories is mainly due to the expansion in fish flour factories, at present there are 29 grinding plants with a theoretical production capacity of about 1 million tons.
Today 11 factories have been licensed and are under construction, and the amount of small surface fish treated in milling plants is estimated to be more than 300,000 tons.
Livestock
Mauritania has abundant and diverse animal resources and vast pastoral areas across the national soil, enabling livestock to cover most of the country’s needs like: meat, dairy, skins and other animal derivatives. Mauritania exports, albeit in a raw form, multiple animal products to neighboring countries.
The country’s livestock is estimated to be more than 29.5million heads distributed as follows:
2 million head of camel;
2.5 million head of cow;
25 million head of small ruminants (goats and lambs).
This wealth is constantly increasing by more than 3.5 per cent per annum.
In recognition of the enormous national potential of this wealth, a national livestock fair was held in its first edition in Timbedra, on March 31st, 2021, and on April 14th, the government approved the establishment of a fund to promote livestock development, and in May of the same year a ministry for veterinary development was created.
Agriculture
Mauritania’s arable land is estimated to more than 500,000 hectares, of which 140,000 are irrigatable land on the Mauritanian side of the Senegal River, of which 46,000 hectares have so far been reclaimed.
Agriculture in Mauritania varies from rice, wheat and various grains, as well as sugar cane, vegetables, pulses, citrus fruits, oils and fruits, and there are large palm oases in the country that produce significant amounts of dates, and agricultural soils are generally characterized by virgin lands and have a relatively high yield.
Large investments in agricultural reclamation and the extension of irrigation and grid electricity systems will allow for production increase, diversification and improvement.
Communications and transportations
Mauritania has developed a communications infrastructure that meets international standards, the country has been linked to Europe and coastal African countries by an optic fiber submarine cable, and almost all regions of the country have internet and telephone services, and the sector is now one of the most vital sectors of the national economy. Due to the importance of training in providing skills, important programs are being implemented to develop technical and vocational training and specialized higher education.
In the field of transport infrastructure, a large road network has been constructed covering the entire national territory, connecting all wilayas to the capital, which has an international airport with a capacity of 2 million passengers per year, and can receive various types of giant aircraft transporting passengers / cargo, and there are many inland airports in major cities.
At the maritime transport level, the independent port of Nouadhibou has been expanded in recent years, the mineral port of Nouadhibou has been modernized, and the capacity of the port of Nouakchott, which has an annual commercial growth of 9.5%, has been doubled.
Tourism
Tourism in Mauritania can be a unique experience for investors as well as for those wishing to discover the secrets of the Mauritanian desert and its ancient cities, which in the past was a major stop on the medieval commercial caravan route.
Mauritania, the meeting point of the Arab world and sub-Saharan Africa, is characterized by its unique cultural asset and diverse landscape with its vast desert, which offers great opportunities for sports adventures and hunting, its mountainous terrain, picturesque beaches and nature reserves, as well as valleys and oases scattered in the Mauritanian desert, and the country’s ethnic diversity is a rich factor as authentic Arab values embrace African traditions in unique harmony.
In general, it can be said that the country has enormous tourism qualifications that provide promising investment opportunities such as archaeological cities classified as human heritage by UNESCO (Chinguetti, Ouadan, Tichitt, oualata), which witness annual festivals that have become an attraction for a large number of tourists, palm oases in the wilayas of Adrar,Tagant and Assaba”,as well as the pure and clean Atlantic coast. Its pleasant climate, stunning views and nature reserves (Cap-blanc, Banc d’Arguin and Djiawling). The Banc d’Arguin has an archipelago of islands on the Atlantic coast (102 islands) on an area of 12,000km² and is a favorite place for millions of migratory birds and marine animals and was designated by UNESCO in 1989 as a world heritage.
Preparation and review of the Embassy in Jakarta
References: Ministry of Economy and Finance Publications
- Other sources
- Translated from the Arabic original version by
- Ahmedou Beibatt/ First Counsellor at the Embassy