By Bakari Gueye in Nouakchott
for Magharebia
[AFP/Joseph Eid] Mauritanian Industry Minister Naha Mint Hamdi Ould Mouknass met December 25th in Nouakchott with a delegation of Moroccan business leaders
Moroccan business leaders and officials are exploring potential investment opportunities in Mauritania.
A delegation led by Mohamed Benayad, the secretary-general of the Moroccan foreign trade ministry, visited on December 25th-26th.
“Mauritania offers big investment opportunities in sectors as diverse as agriculture, industry, housing, water and electricity,” said Zahra Maafiri, the chief executive of Maroc-Export (CMPE).
Maafiri added: “Morocco has gained considerable experience within these sectors in Africa from which Mauritania can benefit.”
“As part of efforts to boost the trade partnership between Morocco and Mauritania, meetings will be held to inform Moroccan businessmen of the legal framework for investment in Mauritania and the business opportunities that this country offers,” she said.
“Mauritanian businessmen will also be able to visit Morocco to find out about the national sector-wide strategies that are in place,” she concluded.
Amadou Sall, an economics professor, commented: “This visit by a high-level Moroccan business delegation indicates that the relationship between the two countries is becoming somewhat warmer. The purpose of this visit is to examine the best ways of taking advantage of investment and partnership opportunities.”
Sall added: “In 2013, there was a qualitative and quantitative improvement in the relations between the two countries, which signed 17 agreements in Nouakchott in relation to various sectors during the seventh session of the Joint High Commission for Co-operation in the presence of the Moroccan prime minister.”
“These agreements cover oil and gas, transport, prisoner exchanges, industrial and technical development and education and vocational training, among other things,” the professor said.
Sidati Ould Cheikh, an expert on terrorism, said that the strengthening of the relationship between Morocco and Mauritania could also be felt in the field of counter-terrorism.
“They have an important role to play within the region. The two countries, which share a long border that is difficult to control, stand to gain from working more closely together,” he said.
“In October, the interior ministers of the two countries agreed in Rabat that they would boost their co-operation in several fields as sensitive as the fight against cross-border organised crime, terrorism, illegal migration and drug trafficking,” he continued.
Ahmed Ould Betar, who runs the website Rapide Info, pointed out: “There was a very noticeable renewal of interest in co-operation between Morocco and Mauritania in 2014 with the exchange of visits between officials from both governments, increased contact between businesses and an increase in the volume of Moroccan investment in Mauritania.”
