President of the Republic oversees the Launch of the 14th Edition of the Heritage Cities Festival in the City of Ouadane

Ouadane / 19 December 2025 (MNA) – His Excellency the President of the Republic, Mr. Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, supervised this morning, Friday, in the historic city of Ouadane, the launch of the 14th edition of the Heritage Cities Festival.

This festival, organized under the slogan “Heritage Cities Festival… A Caravan for the Development of Our Ancient Cities,” is distinguished by the diversity of its activities that cater to the interests of the local population. It includes essential components: developmental, scientific, and artistic, along with a wide range of cultural, sports, and recreational activities.

The Mada’in Heritage Festival represents a valuable opportunity to revive Mauritania’s historical cities, which are a global heritage, from the oblivion and neglect they have suffered for decades, through the developmental opportunities it provides and the accompanying activities it organizes, thereby stabilizing the population in these cities and activating the economic resources within them.

In its latest edition, the festival adopted a developmental approach that focused on creating tangible developmental impact in these cities by launching a set of development projects aimed at enhancing the performance of basic services, investing in infrastructure, and establishing income-generating projects intended to create job opportunities and stimulate local development, in addition to implementing social interventions including food and cash distributions specifically targeting the most needy segments in these cities.

In its latest edition, the festival adopted a developmental approach that focused on creating a tangible developmental impact in these cities by launching a set of development projects aimed at enhancing the performance of basic services, investing in infrastructure, and creating income-generating projects intended to create job opportunities and stimulate local development, in addition to carrying out social interventions including food and cash distributions particularly targeting the most needy segments in these cities.

Due to the accumulation of results achieved in the festival’s editions, each subsequent edition has become more influential than the previous ones on the city’s local development path, whether in terms of improving basic service levels or implementing development projects, contributing to strengthening the economic cycle, creating new job opportunities, and stimulating trade exchanges within the city and with its external surroundings.

The development component to be implemented within the framework of this festival will enable the improvement of basic services in the city of Ouadane through the construction and renovation of educational facilities, enhancing the performance of healthcare facilities, increasing the capacity of water and electricity networks, building sports and cultural facilities, financing income-generating projects, carrying out interventions to enhance the performance of the agricultural sector and combat desertification, supporting tourist establishments, and restoring public facility offices in the city, in addition to other interventions covering various areas.

The opening ceremony took place in the presence of the leader of the Democratic Opposition Foundation, the Minister Secretary-General of the Presidency, the Minister in charge of the Office of the President, the Minister Counselor at the Presidency, several government members, the Governor of Adrar, the head of its region, the Ouadane District Governor, the Mayor of its municipality, leaders and representatives of political formations, and some international organizations concerned with culture, heritage, and sciences, as well as members of the diplomatic corps and representatives of accredited organizations in Mauritania.