Program of the President of the Republic: A resilient and engaged economy on the way to emergence
Despite the negative effects of the multidimensional and unprecedented COVID-19 crisis and the challenges it imposes, the economic policy advocated by the President of the Republic’s Program focused on diversifying the economy by relying on the sectors of agriculture, livestock, fishing, mining, and tourism for which Mauritania has proven potential. In this context, several actions have been carried out and their positive results are significant in the progress made in such a short time, in particular with regard to the upgrading of certain infrastructures and equipment as well as the creation in 2020 of thousands of jobs (20,000) for all segments of the population.
A predominantly desert country, Mauritania has a limited Sahelian zone bordered to the south by the Senegal River and a maritime frontage to the west of the territory, a situation favoring the existence of large pastoral areas and 0.5 % of arable land. With around 4.5 million people and a density of 3.9 people per square kilometer, it is the fourth least densely populated country in Africa. In 2020, its urban population exceeds the rural one with 52.8% of city dwellers, against 48.3% in 2013.
The past decade, which has enabled Mauritania to achieve sustained growth, has been accompanied by significant progress in terms of household well-being and a marked reduction in inequalities and in the poverty rate, which has subsequently declined following the economic progress.
The increase in productivity and incomes recorded in rural areas following the restructuring of the agricultural sector partly explains these advances.
Despite these achievements, the Mauritanian economy remained for the period 2008 – 2018 severely hampered by many constraints including insufficient human capital and financing capacities, the inadequacy of existing sources of financing with the needs of operators, persistence of a framework which is not very favorable to competition and a noticeable weakness in economic diversification.
It is in the face of this situation marked by structural problems that hamper the emergence of an open, diversified economy that creates jobs and adds value that the President of the Republic’s Program has set out to meet the challenge through the establishment of a proactive human capital development policy and competition rules by revising legal and institutional frameworks, regulating monopolies whatever they may be in order to ensure the acceleration of growth economic, diversifying the economy, and strengthening its resilience capacity in the face of shocks to put the country on the path of emergence and creativity.
In this context, it is planned to conduct a policy aimed at setting up a solid mechanism for financing the economy through the introduction of new savings collection tools, encouraging Islamic finance, establishing a stock exchange, promoting innovative financing, and ensuring greater regulation of our financial system.
“The policy that I will implement will result in control of the public debt, a growth rate of around 7%, a balanced budget and inflation under control at less than 4% to preserve the purchasing power of the poorest and a solid and stable financial system “, said the President of the Republic, Mr. Mohamed Cheikh El Ghazouani.
Despite the negative effects of the multidimensional and unprecedented COVID-19 crisis and the challenges it imposes, this policy, focused on the diversification of the economy by relying on the sectors of agriculture, livestock , fishing, mining, and tourism for which Mauritania has proven potential, is already at work and their positive results are significant in the progress made in such a short time, in particular with regard to the upgrading of certain infrastructures and equipment as well as the creation in 2020 of thousands of jobs (20,000) for all segments of the population.
In addition to these achievements, Mauritania is continuing its efforts in terms of public finance consolidation and debt management, progress has also been made in improving the business environment.
The Program of the President of the Republic in the economic field revolves around the following priority axes:
1. A productive and diversified economy:
With a view to diversifying the economy, priority will be given to sectors in which the country has comparative advantages by rapidly increasing production and productivity in certain sectors while ensuring sustainable management of our resources. In this context, a policy of optimizing our agricultural production potential will be implemented and the fishing, mining and crude hydrocarbon sectors will be more integrated into the economy. To this end, the policy of landing catches on national soil will be ensured and the emergence of processing industries will be strongly encouraged, in particular in the agri-food sector.
In the mining sector, the President of the Republic’s Program provides for the exploitation of new mines, the establishment of an artisanal and semi-industrial exploitation strategy for gold mines, as well as an improvement of local content of the mining and oil activities. Already, this exploitation of gold has taken off in 2020, both from the point of view of productivity and the extent of the authorized zones, under the management of a public company, “Maaden Mauritanie”, which now supervises operators in this sub-sector.
In agriculture, the objective will be to ensure during this term self-sufficiency in rice, the production of a significant part of our needs in wheat and vegetables. In this regard, the agricultural seasons in 2020 ended with a marked improvement in production compared to previous seasons. Moreover, it is planned to encourage rice cultivation which will be extended to other sectors.
For a productive and diversified economy, generating more jobs and added value, the following measures will be taken:
– Carrying out a fair and equitable land reform to promote economic development;
– Setting up a financing system for the agricultural sector (agricultural bank, agricultural insurance, guarantee and bonus funds, etc.);
– Developing 5,000 hectares each year for the benefit of the most disadvantaged communities;
– Continuing to build the Great Green Wall to restore our flora and fauna but also to create economic activities for the benefit of rural populations;
– Promoting the development by the private sector of at least 3,000 hectares per year on the river and its tributaries as well as on the Aftout Essahli canal;
– Building a channel linking the River to Lake Aleg;
– Opening up production areas and speeding up their connection to energy sources;
– Creating three fodder basins in Gorgol, Brakna, and Trarza, and encouraging the private sector by subsidizing seeds and fertilizers;
– Improving the control of surface water through the construction of:
a – 60 small dams to irrigate 100 to 500 hectares;
b – 6 large dams in 5 Wilayas (Tagant, Assaba, Gorgol, Brakna and Guidimagna).
For livestock, efforts will focus on developing a strategy to modernize this vital sector for our economy which will develop production sectors (milk, red meat, derived products, etc.) and strengthen their competitiveness thanks to the following measures:
• Increasing budgets intended for livestock, in particular those reserved for animal health:
• Exempting slaughter facilities and dairy products from all customs duties and taxes; • Encouraging the diversification and improvement of breed to promote production in this sub-sector.
In the field of fisheries, priority will be given, beyond the sustainability of the management of the resource, to the development of competent human resources in this sector, the reduction of the costs of production factors, and the processing on national soil of catches by carrying out the following measures:
– Introducing competition into the process of awarding fishing licenses;
– Encouraging an increase in storage capacities to land more than 90% of the quantities fished;
– Building the fishing port and the PK 28 complex;
– Completing the construction of the Port of N’diago;
– Building 4 new landing points in the Imraguen villages;
– Increasing the production of standard boats;
– Setting up a fisheries financing fund;
– Reforming the SMCPP to allow efficient market regulation;
– Promoting transformation and creation of added value and jobs;
– Creating a special tax regime at the level of ports, in particular that of Tanit.
For the mining sector, it is planned in the President of the Republic’s Program to put in place the mechanisms that will allow this sector to contribute effectively to the economic and social development of the country, which will be achieved through a policy in harmony with the mining strategy based on the promotion of mining heritage through the development of an integrated value chain.
This choice, which will result in the promotion of a sustainable mining sector, socially responsible and concerned with environmental aspects, will enable the following results to be achieved:
Strengthening mining sector infrastructure;
Improving the attractiveness of the mining sector and increasing its economic benefits;
Diversifying the sector’s production through the exploitation of uranium and phosphate mines and developing non-metallic minerals;
Encouraging processing industries to allow better valuation of our raw products and a wider positive impact, particularly for employment;
Opening new sites for artisanal gold mining which will benefit from the necessary support in order to create new income opportunities;
Encouraging national investment in this sector; In this context, the encouragement and supervision of small-scale mining will be carried out, offering profitable prospects to national investors.
Regarding opportunities for the exploitation of oil and gas resources, it is planned to:
• Consolidate the system of good governance in the sector by strengthening transparency measures in the management of the entire value chain;
• Develop the attractiveness of Mauritania as a preferred destination for investors in the sub-region;
• Preserve our environment to ensure the rational exploitation of oil and gas resources without endangering the fishery resources which are important for our sustainable development;
• Maximize local content in oil and gas activities by prioritizing:
– Professional training of young Mauritanians in different fields sector-related expertise;
– The upgrading of national companies to enable them to meet the standards of the industry.
• Integrate the oil and gas sector into the national economic fabric by creating the conditions for the development of an industry to add value to these products, which will make it possible to maximize the impact of these resources on our economy;
• Put in place the infrastructure necessary for the development of the sector (storage, transport, distribution, port capacities, etc.) with the aim of making Mauritania a regional hub for the oil and gas industry.
2. Development of growth support infrastructure:
To reduce the cost of the factors of production which continue to hamper the competitiveness of the sectors where the growth potential is the most important, the Program of the President of the Republic focuses on the reforms necessary to eliminate all the shortcomings that limit the profitability of investments in the fields of water and electricity. In this context, the country’s energy policy will be focused on meeting all our country’s needs at affordable costs.
At the level of water sector, which is both vital for the well-being of our populations and for the development of our economy and forb the improvement of production and productivity, it is planned to conduct a policy of sustainable management of the resource in the service of populations and production units.
In the field of transport, the priority beyond the modernization and preservation of existing infrastructure and equipment will focus on the organization and specialization of the land transport sector, the improvement of road safety as well as the construction or road rehabilitation. In addition, there is the development of networks promoting sub-regional and regional exchanges by completing the completion of the roads and missing sections to link the Mauritanians to neighboring countries as well as the Rosso bridge.
At the level of Nouakchott and the big cities, a program to construct 300 km of paved roads will be carried out as part of the solution to the problem of urban transport.
3. Competitive private sector, engine for growth:
The Program of the President of the Republic underlines the preponderant place that the private sector must necessarily occupy in the development of the Mauritanian economy. Given that the investments made thanks to revenues from extractive resources today create favorable conditions for growth driven by private investment, the State will be content to regulate and carry out sovereign missions and those for which the private sector has no added value.
In this context, the President of the Republic’s Program plans to deepen the framework for consultation and public-private partnership, to improve the access of the private sector to sources of financing, mobilize long-term resources through external credit lines and encourage the emergence of a fabric of SMEs, entrepreneurship, innovation, and new technologies.
Education, engine of growth
In its dynamic of diversifying its economy to promote sustainable growth, one of the challenges for Mauritania is to improve its education system, which is an obstacle to economic development and social inclusion. This is the conclusion of the 3rd report on the economic situation in Mauritania published by the World Bank.
The Report entitled “Strengthening education to promote social cohesion and support economic development”, indicates “In the face of the COVID-19 crisis, it is particularly important to continue the reforms started in the education sector in order to improve the standard of living of the population, increase social cohesion, and ensure sustainable and inclusive growth”.
The report devotes a special chapter to the education sector in Mauritania and analyzes the situation and performance of the education system. It also proposes reforms to be carried out in the future to improve it. In recent years, Mauritania has made significant progress in access to education and school equity between boys and girls, one of the government’s priorities.
The report also underlines that for the education sector to play its role a a social elevator, Mauritania must strengthen its investments and focus on improving the quality of teachers, reducing absenteeism and greater involvement of the community at the local level.