AfDB Intensifies Private Sector Support to Fuel Mauritania’s Industrial Transformation
The African Development Bank Group has intensified its support for Mauritania’s private sector, aiming to channel more financing into private sector-led investments and regional integration initiatives.
Speaking at a workshop co-organised with the Investment Promotion Agency of Mauritania, Malinne Blomberg, Deputy Director General for North Africa at the Bank Group, highlighted the institution’s ambition to strengthen collaboration with local and regional banks while supporting projects that generate jobs and economic value.
“In Mauritania, our goal is clear: to make the private sector a stronger driver of economic transformation and regional integration,” Ms Blomberg said.
She welcomed recent reforms, including the new investment code, improvements to the mining regulatory framework, and strengthened public-private partnerships, emphasising the private sector’s central role in addressing employment challenges, economic diversification, and access to finance.
The Bank Group’s strategy for private sector development across Africa is built on three pillars: improving the business environment, developing quality infrastructure, and strengthening enterprise capabilities.
In Mauritania, the Bank is already supporting APIM through technical assistance, financing transformative projects such as the Rosso Bridge and the Mauritania–Mali Power Interconnection Project, and working with the National Industrial and Mining Company (SNIM) and commercial banks.
Mauritania’s Minister of Economic Affairs and Development, Abdallah Souleymane Cheikh-Sidia, who also serves as Governor for the Bank Group for Mauritania, noted that the challenge is not a lack of opportunities, but turning potential into bankable projects.
Tah Ahmed Meouloud, Director General of APIM, said the workshop would help private sector actors better understand how to access the Bank Group’s financing instruments, acting as a catalyst to reduce risk and strengthen credibility for businesses.
The workshop also provided a forum for private sector consultation ahead of the Bank’s North Africa Regional Integration Strategy, identifying priorities to better position Mauritanian enterprises in regional and continental markets.
The Bank reaffirmed its commitment to supporting Mauritania in improving the business climate and boosting enterprise productivity sustainably.
