President of Republic: “For Major Initiative To Accelerate Development of Renewable Energies”

The President of the Republic, His Excellency Mr. Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani participated, Tuesday via videoconference, in an international round table on the transformation of the extractive industries sector into a driver of sustainable development.

In his speech on this occasion, the President of the Republic expressed his desire to see the establishment of a major initiative within the framework of the United Nations to finance and accelerate the development of renewable energies in Africa and in the Arab world.

His Excellency Mr. Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani stressed that the extractive industries, despite their enormous weight in the economies of developing countries and particularly in the economies of Arab and African countries, have rarely benefited from the attention they deserve on the development aid agenda.

Here is the full text of the speech of the President of the Republic:

“Financing for Development in the era of COVID-19 and Beyond: Global Extractive Industries Roundtable: Turning the Sector into a Driver of Sustainable Development
Excellencies Ladies and Gentlemen, Heads of State,
Excellencies the Prime Ministers,
His Excellency Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations,

Her Excellency Madame Amina Mohamed, Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations,
Excellencies Ladies and Gentlemen Ministers, Ambassadors, honorable participants

1. First, allow me to thank the Secretary General for the kind invitation extended to Mauritania to participate in this round table on extractive industries and financing for development.
2. Despite their enormous weight in the economies of developing countries and particularly in the economies of Arab and African countries, the extractive industries have rarely received the attention they deserve on the development aid agenda.
3. I therefore warmly congratulate you, Mr. Secretary General, on your beautiful and very timely initiative.
Excellency Heads of State,
Mr. Secretary General,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
4. The issue of extractive industries in our countries is well known: an important contribution to the GDP, to the external trade balance and to tax revenues, but also a sector that is poorly integrated into the national economy, with limited impacts on local development and on society and with high environmental costs.

5. It is also a very intensive sector in terms of capital, expertise, and very specific know-how that international operators are sometimes slow to transfer to host countries, considerably reducing the transformative power of these industries on our economies and our societies.

6. Finally, and we do not say it enough, the technological gaps between international companies and host countries are the source of asymmetries in power and in access to data and economic information, which are an obstacle to equitable sharing of benefits derived from extractive industries.

7. I am convinced, Mr. Secretary General, that the United Nations can play an important role in correcting these imbalances. The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative is a step in the right direction, but it is not enough.

Excellencies Ladies and Gentlemen, Heads of State and Government,
Mr. Secretary General,
Ladies and gentlemen,

8. We all agree, we are at a crossroads. The shock of COVID-19 exposed the danger of extreme dependence on extractive industries, and in particular fossils. But at the same time, it helps accelerate the transition to clean and sustainable energies.

9. Some believe that the Arab and African countries, major exporters of minerals and hydrocarbons, will be the loser of the great era of energy transition which is beginning.

10. I do not share this point of view.

11. On the contrary, we have everything to be the winners of the renewable energy revolution. We have plenty of sun, wind, and space.
12. And thanks to renewable energies, we can provide our mining and industrial sectors with the very low-cost electricity that it has often sorely lacked, and thus accelerate the industrialization and transformation of our economies and start the virtuous circle of sustained and sustainable employment growth to which our populations aspire.

13. This conviction is at the center of our approach to the development of extractive industries in Mauritania.

14. Our country has, in fact, one of the best wind and solar potentials on the continent. The low population density and our geographical position give us a real comparative advantage in the development of renewable energies.
15. Aware that decisions should be made today to ensure a successful energetic transition, our government is working on the development of a roadmap to produce green hydrogen and the decarbonization of the energy sector, the production of clean and low-cost electricity in the mining and industrial sector, and the gradual decarbonization of the mining and transport sectors.
16. The roadmap also includes the development of an incentive legal and regulatory framework to stimulate foreign and national investment in renewable energies and hydrogen production as well as a national skills development plan.
17. I am convinced that the renewable energies provide us with an important lever to transform our extractive industries and our economies and thus contribute to the achievement of the objectives of sustainable development in our countries and to the global energy transition.
18. I am aware of the enormous challenges that hinder the achievement of our goals.
19. Like other countries, the COVID-19 crisis has imposed an unprecedented economic and financial shock on us. It complicates the exploitation of our gas resources and leaves us with a huge debt that is added to the liabilities in terms of infrastructure, education and training, and access to health services.
20. That is why, along with others, I have repeatedly called for an initiative to relieve the debt of African countries.

21. And that is why I fully support, Mr. Secretary General, your call to action for extractive industries and financing for development.

22. I also express the wish for the establishment within the framework of the United Nations of a major initiative to finance and accelerate the development of renewable energies in Africa and the Arab world.
23. Such an initiative should strongly involve the national private sector and give an important place to technology transfer and technical assistance in the field of renewable energies.
Thank you”.

The Minister of Oil, Mines, and Energy, Mr. Abdessalam Ould Mohamed Salah, and the Director of Cabinet of the President of the Republic, Mr. Mohamed Ahmed Ould Mohamed Lemine, attended the round table.