At a hearing with Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, President of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, held on 29 January in Nouakchott, ECA Executive Secretary Vera Songwe congratulated Mauritania for ratifying the Free Trade Agreement. exchange for the African continent (AfCFTA or ZLECA in French), a major project for the economic development of the region. Mauritania is one of the first countries to sign AfCFTA documents, which shows that its president and government are convinced of the importance of regional integration, Songwe said.
The talks with President Ould Abdel Aziz focused on the strategic choices regarding ECA’s activities in Mauritania and its cooperation with Mauritania as part of its role in supporting Africa’s development. During her visit, the Executive Secretary of ECA met with several ministers, including Prime Minister Mohamed Salem Ould El Bechir, Foreign Minister Ismael Ould Cheikh Ahmed, Minister of Economy and Finance Moctar Ould Diay and Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism Khadijetou Mbareck.
Topics covered included the use of innovative financing investment mechanisms to strengthen key sectors such as energy or mining; the use of ICTs to streamline administrative processes to improve Doing Business rankings at the national level; and improved public finance and debt analysis to strengthen the country’s macroeconomic and fiscal policies.
Other topics covered include employment, economic diversification, the establishment of a national digital identification system for better social inclusion and the distribution of the benefits of growth in line with the Sustainable Development Goals, as well as the implementation of the African Women’s Fund launched by ECA in 2018 for Mauritanian women.
These cooperation opportunities are in addition to ECA’s ongoing projects in Mauritania, including the recasting of GDP in accordance with SCN 2008, support for the drafting of the first National Voluntary Review and the forthcoming completion of a study on competitiveness in Mauritania. the framework of ECA’s strategy and support the implementation of AfCFTA. Songwe also met with the United Nations country team and discussed options for improving the coordination of United Nations projects in Mauritania.