Mauritania Business Opportunities

Country Background

Independent from France in 1960, Mauritania annexed the southern third of the former Spanish Sahara (now Western Sahara) in 1976, but relinquished it after three years of raids by the Polisario guerrilla front seeking independence for the territory. Maaouya Ould Sid Ahmed TAYA seized power in a coup in 1984 and ruled Mauritania with a heavy hand for over two decades. A bloodless coup in August 2005 deposed President TAYA and ushered in a military council that oversaw a transition to democratic rule. Independent candidate Sidi Ould Cheikh ABDALLAHI was inaugurated in April 2007 as Mauritania's first freely and fairly elected president. His term ended prematurely in August 2008 when a coup deposed him and ushered in a military council government.

People

More than 70 percent of the people are Moors, or of mixed Arab and Berber descent. The remainder are of mixed Arabic or black African descent. There are also small communities of Europeans. Many of the Moors are seminomads who live in tents and range in seasonal patterns over vast areas in search of water and forage for their livestock.

The total Population was is estimated in 3,364,940 (aprox.)

Economy

The Mauritania Economy and Business depend a lot on agriculture and mining. Iron ore is one of the main natural resources of Mauritania. The Mauritania Economy and Business runs heavily on the export of iron ore. With the recent hike in metal prices, a number of copper and gold mining companies are opening up in the interior of Mauritania. The fish processing is one of the other sectors that draw money for the Government of Mauritania. A big number of laborers in Mauritania are engaged in the construction work. While a few are engaged in road construction, others are engaged in port construction. Most of the construction projects are financed by foreign companies. The two prime industries recorded in the manufacturing sector include a steel mill and an oil refinery. A fair number of small enterprises opened up by 1986 in Mauritania. A few of them include a manufacturer of perfume, cement bagging company, company dealing in blanket fabrication. In Nouakchott, a sugar mill was built by the Americans. It dealt in the packaging of the imported refined sugar.

Doing Business in Mauritania

Mauritania is an excellent place for starting a profitable business venture. The investor interested in doing business in Mauritania may look at the substantial mineral deposits of copper, gypsum and iron ore. Considerable quantity of gold is also found. The list of Mauritanian business also includes ventures relating to the fishing industry. Commercially saleable fossil fuel is also discovered along the Mauritanian coastal waters. The biggest foreign exchange earner of the African nation is its mining industry. Iron ore contribute to a large portion of Mauritania's exports. The fish industry also makes a viable business proposition in Mauritania. There are a number of downstream industries like plastics, chemicals, fish processing, gypsum and building materials. The investor friendly policies pursued by the government of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania have helped in attracting much needed foreign investments into the West African country. Many government companies have been privatized. Free market economic moves are actively encouraged. More than 90% of the total investment into the Mauritanian economy came from foreign investments to the country.

The leading imports are machinery and equipment, petroleum products, capital and consumer goods, and food. The principal trade partners are France, Belgium, Japan, and Spain. Mauritania has a large foreign debt.