President of Republic Calls On Donors To Support Mauritania’s Efforts Towards Integrated, Sustainable Development
On 16 June, in Vienna (the Austrian capital), His Excellency Mr. Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, the President of the Republic, took part in the work of the round table organized by the OPEC Fund for International Development in the presence of Dr. Abdulhamid al-Khalifa, the President of the Fund, CEOs and representatives of Arab and international financial institutions, and several development funds within the framework of the Arab Coordination Group.
During his participation in this round table, His Excellency the President of the Republic announced a series of priority structural projects prepared by the Mauritanian government as part of a comprehensive national plan responding to the axes of the OPEC Fund for International Development, namely financing the future, sustainability of resources, capacity building, and accelerating economic and industrial transformation. He called on all parties and institutions of funding in the Arab Coordination Group to adopt them, mobilizing the resources needed to support Mauritania’s integrated, balanced, and sustainable development efforts.
His Excellency expressed Mauritania’s willingness to work with all partners to establish a follow-up coordination framework that guarantees maximum positive impact on the development of these investment projects.
Here is the full text of His Excellency’s speech:
“Thank you very much, Mr. President, His Excellency Dr. Abdulhamid al-Khalifa, to the OPEC Fund for International Development and all the parties and institutions of the Arab Coordination Group, for organizing this round table, which is perfectly in line with the pioneering development role played by the Fund, guided by its vision based on strengthening cooperation and supporting developing countries for comprehensive, balanced, and sustainable development.
I would also like to thank the Arab funds and all the financial institutions present with us today for their participation in this round table and their constant interest and support for our country’s development process.
The support provided by Arab Coordination Group institutions to many countries, and particularly to the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is of paramount importance and has a profound positive impact on vital development projects in our country, such as energy, water, infrastructures, and others.
While we thank the Arab Coordination Group for this important support, we are fully aware that resources are crucial in implementing any ambitious development program.
At the same time, however, we realize that investments will only contribute to empowering inclusive and sustainable development in the beneficiary country to the extent that that country succeeds in carrying out the structural reforms necessary to mobilize resources and translate them into transformative projects that change the that country’s reality and set its economy on an upward trajectory.
Aware of this reality, we have drawn up an ambitious strategy for accelerated growth and shared prosperity in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania that aims to achieve inclusive and sustainable development, with particular emphasis on access to basic services, infrastructure development, and support for young people, women, and the most vulnerable groups…
Within this framework, we have carried out major structural reforms to develop productive sectors, strengthen the sustainable exploitation of resources, and promote extractive industries and growth-supporting infrastructures while consolidating the rule of law, enhancing transparency, fighting corruption, improving the business climate, and other necessary reforms.
Thanks to the efforts made at all these levels, the Islamic Republic of Mauritania is today:
– A stable country in security, social, and political terms.
– A country with an attractive business climate that stimulates investment, offering all the necessary facilities and guarantees.
– A country rich in promising investment opportunities in agriculture, livestock, minerals, gas, renewable energies, fisheries, and infrastructure.
The International Monetary Fund recently hailed the successes our country has achieved and continues to achieve in terms of economic and financial reforms, particularly in good governance, macroeconomic stability, and strengthening the resilience of vital sectors. However, achieving major development objectives depends on our collective ability to mobilize financing and resources, notably through partnerships with Arab and international financial institutions.
In this context, we are honored to present you with a set of priority structural projects drawn up within the framework of an ambitious national plan, which reflects the Forum’s fundamental axes, particularly financing for the future, resource sustainability, capacity building, and stimulating and accelerating economic and industrial transformation:
First: in the energy field:
– Project to hybridize thermal power plants in interior cities and extend the capacity of hybrid power plants by integrating energy storage battery systems.
This project aims to diversify energy sources and enhance energy security in interior regions.
Second, in the water sector:
– Construction of a dam at the Tarf El Mahroud site.
– Construction of a dam in the Karakoro basin linked to the river.
These are two strategic projects to meet climate challenges and ensure the sustainability of water resources.
Third: in road transport infrastructure and regional integration:
– Rehabilitation of the Nouakchott-Nouadhibou Road.
– Rehabilitation of the Rosso – Boghe road.
These two routes are vital for boosting domestic trade and integration with regional markets.
Fourth: in agriculture and food security:
– A project to dig tributaries of the river and another to develop agricultural land along the river.
Both projects aim to increase cultivated areas and ensure sustainable food security.
Fifth: in port infrastructure:
– Project to build a deepwater port in the economic capital, Nouadhibou.
This project aims to improve the country’s commercial connectivity, support the national economic dynamic, and maximize the share of trade with neighboring landlocked countries.
– N’Diago port rehabilitation project.
This project aims to develop the port’s logistics services platform to ensure its capacity to support the economic dynamics of the gas and agricultural sectors.
– Project to build catch unloading platforms along the coast, a project that aims to localize fisheries wealth, create jobs, and contribute to food security.
These projects are not simply sectoral interventions but represent pillars of a structural transformation of development that opens up new prospects for growth and strengthens the resilience of society, particularly vulnerable groups, in the face of multiple challenges. They are also part of two ambitious development programs for Nouakchott and all the country’s wilayas, which require increased investment in public services and infrastructure to support growth.
These projects are a top priority for us, and we therefore call on all parties and financing institutions in the Arab Coordination Group to adopt them, mobilizing the necessary resources to support our efforts to achieve integrated, balanced, and sustainable development.
We express our full readiness to work with all partners to establish a coordination framework for follow-up to maximize the possible positive impact of these investment projects on development.
Thank you, and may Allah’s peace, mercy, and blessings be upon you.”