A committee will be created by Mauritania and Senegal to work on completing the construction of the Rosso bridge, located on the border of the two countries, with a view to its delivery by July 2026, announced the Senegalese Prime Minister , Ousmane Sonko, Monday, in Nouakchott.
The committee will be responsible for “resolving the last ambiguities” linked to the construction of this infrastructure, said Mr. Sonko during a meeting with his Mauritanian counterpart, Mohamed Ould Diay.
According to him, the bridge works reached an execution rate of 30%.
With a length of 1.5 kilometers, the Rosso Bridge will span the Senegal River to connect the south of Mauritania to the north of Senegal. Its overall cost is 88 million euros, or 57.7 billion CFA francs.
Construction work on this structure was launched in 2021 by the Mauritanian and Senegalese presidents.
‘An intensification of bilateral relations’
Speaking in the presence of several Senegalese and Mauritanian ministers, Ousmane Sonko welcomed the “strategic partnership” established by the two countries around the Grand Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) natural gas deposit, located on Senegal’s border with Mauritania. . ”GTA, which symbolizes our strategic partnership around gas and oil, is an example of a successful South-South partnership supported by two neighboring countries,” said Ousmane Sonko.
An interministerial meeting to coordinate the project to exploit this deposit was held on December 19 and 20, 2024 in Nouakchott, recalled Mr. Sonko.
Several bilateral meetings took place in 2024 between the two countries, in Dakar and Nouakchott, as well as several official visits, including the first trip abroad by President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, reserved for Mauritania.
All this should push Mauritania and Senegal to now speak of a “single path”, according to Ousmane Sonko.
”I told you earlier (…) that our two countries must now speak with one voice,” he said in the presence of Mohamed Ould Diay and several Senegalese and Mauritanian ministers.
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“I renew (…) my complete availability to work with you to strengthen the bonds of fraternal friendship uniting our two peoples and to consolidate the strategic partnership that exists between our two countries,” continued Ousmane Sonko, welcoming “ ‘an intensification of Senegalese-Mauritanian bilateral relations under the leadership of Presidents Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye and Mohamed Cheikh Ould El Ghazouani”.
Mauritania and Senegal have, ”over the years, established solid relationships of trust based on mutual respect, which has enabled them to meet the many challenges that have arisen before them,” underlined Mr. Sonko .
-”Sincerity”
”Your presence among us today, while attesting to the depth of the historical ties that unite our two brotherly countries, strongly reflects the solid will of our respective leaders […] to always work to strengthen our bilateral relations, to diversify and expand the frameworks of cooperation between our two countries,” affirmed Mohamed Ould Diay.
He believes that ”nothing better illustrates the sincerity of this common will than the honor given to Mauritania to have been chosen by […] President Bassirou Diomaye Faye as the destination of his first trip abroad, after his brilliant election.
The two countries have in common “a tolerant Sunni Islam, carried by leaders and eminent scholars”, according to the head of the Mauritanian government.
Mauritania and Senegal contributed to the realization of “major projects”, including the Organization for the Development of the Senegal River (OMVS), he recalled.
The OMVS is considered throughout the world as a model of watershed management, he said, welcoming the joint project to exploit the GTA natural gas field and the construction of the Rosso bridge on the border of two countries.
”A complementarity that enriches and strengthens”
Senegal and Mauritania are in “a complementarity which enriches and strengthens our two nations”, continued Mohamed Ould Diay, urging Dakar and Nouakchott to “strengthen [leurs] bilateral relations and to explore the means best suited to them […] diversify”.
Ousmane Sonko arrived in Nouakchott on Sunday evening for a two-day official visit devoted mainly to energy, transport, security and migration.
For this visit, also known as friendship and work, he is accompanied by several ministers, including Yassine Fall, in charge of African Integration and Foreign Affairs, and Jean Baptiste Tine, that of the Interior and Public Security.
Birame Souleye Diop, the Minister of Energy, Oil and Mines, Yankhoba Diémé, in charge of Infrastructure, Land and Air Transport, and Fatou Diouf, the Minister of Fisheries, Maritime and Port Infrastructure, are taking part.
The delegation led by Ousmane Sonko also includes the directors general of the National Agency responsible for the promotion of investments and major works, Bakary Séga Bathily, and of the Société des Petroles du Senegal, Alioune Guèye.
