تأهيل موريتانيا لشراكة استراتيجية مع السعودية

A significant Saudi delegation headed by Minister of Investment Khalid Al-Falih is set to visit Mauritania on Sunday, according to official sources from both countries.

During this visit, a strategic partnership is expected to be launched across multiple sectors, including minerals, fisheries, agriculture, and clean energy, to benefit from the abundance that the West African nation enjoys, according to Fawaz Al-Alami, Chairman of the International Trade Consulting Office.

Al-Alami, a prominent Saudi economic expert and consultant, explained weeks ago in an interview with Al-Sharq TV and Bloomberg that the economic and financial feasibility of a Saudi partnership with Mauritania is viable despite the geographical distance. He stated that "Mauritania possesses vast and high-quality reserves of minerals: iron, copper, uranium, phosphate, and cobalt." He added that "its territorial waters are among the richest globally in fisheries, in addition to having fertile and extensive land suitable for agriculture."

In meetings with Mauritanian diplomats and officials involved in political, economic, and financial decision-making, who are keen on preparing their country for a strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia, I emphasized the need to understand the shift in Saudi policy since the announcement of "Vision 2030" and the practical and different approach of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

I explained to them that the time of going to Saudi Arabia with files solely to secure resources for projects and attract funding has ended, and that Saudi aid and funding, whether in the form of grants or loans to African countries, is now based on new foundations linked to mutual interests, including prioritizing Saudi companies and providing advantages and facilities for Saudi foreign investments.

This shift in Saudi financing policy does not, of course, include urgent humanitarian aid, and Saudi relief campaigns to address natural disasters, famines, terrorism, and poverty, as this is linked to its global humanitarian role and continues unabated.

Saudi Arabia has helped us move forward on the path of development, investing in us without conditions or harm over the past few years, when it injected funding into developmental projects amounting to $800 million.

Today, we must grant Saudi companies contracts and privileges and integrate them into the public procurement system, not only when it comes to projects funded by Saudi funds but in all public tenders and major works, including those funded by international financing institutions such as the IMF and World Bank, the European Union, Kuwaiti funds, the African Bank, or funded from the state budget.

It is also important for our country to import more Saudi goods and products to enhance trade exchange, to encourage our businessmen to invest in the Saudi stock market, and to facilitate access for traders and small and medium-sized enterprises to Saudi factories through two direct air and sea routes connecting Mauritania to the ports of Jeddah.

With this policy, we will direct part of Mauritania's hard currency revenues to intensify trade exchange with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

This will also contribute to enhancing bilateral cooperation and realizing the strategic partnership by opening up opportunities for Saudi public and private companies and the Public Investment Fund to invest in sovereign sectors such as telecommunications, digital infrastructure, food security (agriculture and industrial fishing), energy, oil and gas, defense, military industries, strategic transport, ports, airports, and modern road networks connecting major logistics areas in Southern Europe, Morocco, Algeria, West African countries, and landlocked, densely populated Sahel countries that need to import many Saudi industrial products.

Senegal has awarded the Saudi company "ACWA Power" a contract worth €800 million to supply the capital Dakar with drinking water by building a desalination plant in the city, which, like our capital, is located on the Atlantic coast; it will be the largest plant in sub-Saharan Africa.

The Kingdom of Morocco also allows Saudi companies to invest in sovereign sectors.

The success of President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani in enhancing political and security stability, securing borders, and maintaining the country's sovereignty in a turbulent environment with increasing regional and international polarization, along with his commitment to establishing peaceful power transitions and putting an end to coups that have persisted in neighboring African countries, makes Mauritania a trustworthy partner and a reliable and attractive destination for investments, especially in long-term strategic sectors.

In this context, if we embark on a successful and strong economic and trade partnership with Saudi Arabia, linking the interests of Saudi companies and groups to the stability of our country, we will rely on a trusted ally among today's major regional powers, whose influence is heard in international politics, and this will create mutual geopolitical and economic interests despite the geographical distance. We can develop diplomatic coordination and ongoing consultations for a deep political and security partnership to confront looming risks with the start of gas production and export, the doubling of gold production, and the expansion of mines.

Perhaps some Mauritanians bitterly remember the difficult days during the Sahara War when the continuation of Mauritania as a state became questionable.

In this context, I recall the testimony of Colonel Mohamed Ould Lakhal, who said that the Saudi leadership granted the Mauritanian government a blank check to purchase whatever it needed in terms of weapons and supplies, thus preventing the collapse of the army and the state.

Whether we agreed or disagreed with the military, the military institution is the safety valve for Mauritania's survival as a state in a region rife with turmoil and transformations, with some of its countries at risk of collapse, including neighboring Mali, where the organizations Al-Qaeda and "Macina" are deploying their fighters in the west of the country in preparation for an invasion of the capital Bamako and the takeover of sovereign institutions.