to japanese page
top embassy economy tourism culture link
 
 
 
ECONOMY
Outline
Industries
Investment
Resources


 

Potential

The fishery is an essential sector in the Mauritanian economy.

fishing imageFish stocks off the coast of Mauritanian are reputed to be among the richest in the world. Its stocks are also amongst the most diverse and the commercial value of the main species are impressive (such as cephalochordate, crustaceans, demersal fish, tunny fish), and Mauritania has a healthy share of quotas in relation to world supply. For instance, Mauritania apparently has the largest stocks of octopus and croakers in the world.

The fishery is very active in Mauritania. States regulations help to prevent overexploitation and fraud, enforce a two-month protective closure and intensify patrols of coastal areas and the marine zone.The new fisheries code adopted in 2000 emphasizes sustainable development of the commercial fishery, expansion of artisanal fisheries, reorganization and modernization of the Mauritanian fleet and development of processed product exports.Mauritania has signed bilateral fishery agreement with Algeria, Japan, Morocco, Russia, Senegal, Tunisia and the European Union.The potential for export development in this sector lies in the expansion of expansion of artisanal and coastal fisheries.

There is new zoning in place, which will help to boost the level of activity and increase processing of fishery products, particularly, pelagic species, which are still underexploited. Enhanced quality management and better promotion will help to improve product access and value on foreign markets.

Mining is a major sector of the Mauritanian economy.

mining imageIt currently accounts for over 10% of GDP and half the trade balance and contributes 9.4 billion Ouguiyas to the State budget.Opportunities have already presented themselves in the mining sector, which will help to increase exports.The expansion in mineral exploration bodes well for development of new products such as gold and diamonds. Recently, the direction des mines et de la geologie issued a hundred or so exploration and development permits for gold, diamonds, iron, copper, gypsum, salt, phosphate and hydrocarbons.


The agro-pastoral sector is the largest employer in the country,
accounting for 48% of all jobs.

agriculture imageThe sector has been liberalized to strengthen it and to allow private operators to pick up from the State. One of the pillars of the reform has been the development of farm credit, which, initially, was available only for rice production and is now open to other agricultural sectors.

Other investment opportunities

The technology, information, services and industry sectors offer interesting job creating opportunities and would be the first to benefit from and enhanced investment climate. Investment in petroleum exploration and extraction will depend on the success of chilling program currently underway.

Tourism

tourism imageMauritania offer enormous tourism potential, particularly with its richly diverse ecological, cultural, desert and seaside resources, among others. The building of better infrastructure should make various destinations more accessible, such as the air port at Nema and the Nouakchott- Nouadhibou road. The government set up a national tourism office (ONT) and adopted a 10 year strategic plan for tourism promotion.

The petroleum sector

Over the last two decades, there has been a sharp increase in investments in hydrocarbon exploration.

Telecommunications and new technologies

With liberalization of this sector, in the late nineties came lower telecommunications rates. The government is planning to increase competition in various segments of the fixed-line and mobile telephony markets.
Although there are six servers in Mauritania, internet use tends to be limited to large companies because of the high annual fees involved. However, internet use is growing. More open competition is planned for this market segment, potentially resulting in widespread internet use by Mauritanian households and increased investment in this sector for both national and foreign operators.

Other sector

There are development opportunities in the artisanal sector, if initiatives are taken to improve artisan productivity, product quality and markets access.
The government adopted an organization plan for the handcraft industry designed to develop and modernize the artisanal sector.
Financial and insurance services, air transportation, health and education, were all completely liberalized and privatized by the late nineties.
All these sectors are full of investment opportunities , particularly for foreign direct investments .


Page Top
 
1 Copyright © 2005 EMBASSY OF MAURITANIA IN TOKYO