During his stay in Nouakchott, which ended on January 14, Ousmane Sonko discussed with his Mauritanian counterpart, Moctar Ould Diay, a project with a very strong symbolic charge: the Rosso bridge, the construction of which is only too long ago. late. With a total cost estimated at 87.62 million euros, the work will connect the 1,461 meters which separate the Mauritanian bank from the Senegalese bank of the Senegal River. Although the project was launched two years ago, only 30% of the bridge has been completed. A joint committee was therefore set up to accelerate its construction in 2026. The crossing of many passengers, private vehicles and goods transport is currently ensured by ferries several times a day.
Pont de Rosso, a strategic and economic gateway
The inclusion of such infrastructure in the agenda of Ousmane Sonko’s stay in Nouakchott is not fortuitous and should strengthen commercial exchanges which the two neighbors consider “insufficient» despite the 184% increase in Senegalese exports to Mauritania over the last five years: “these exchanges remain below their potential, in particular due to under-exploitation by economic operators, particularly in the industrial sector» declared the Senegalese Minister of Industry and Commerce, Serigne Guèye Diop, during the first edition of the Senegal-Mauritania Economic Forum in September 2024 in Dakar.
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For Yassine Fall, Senegalese Minister of African Integration and Foreign Affairs, the new impetus for trade requires the lifting of “challenges linked to the implementation of cooperation mechanisms in the spirit of the agreement creating the Great Joint Senegalese-Mauritanian Cooperation Commission, signed on January 14, 1972 in Dakar. It was agreed to organize each year a session of this joint commission under the chairmanship of the two Prime Ministers“. It is therefore not insignificant that Ousmane Sonko met with Mauritanian employers to identify avenues for strengthening these exchanges.
And promising sectors are not rare. Mohamed Salem ould Merzough, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mauritania, insists on “strengthening cooperation in the areas of security, conditions of stay and establishment of nationals in each of the two countries, energy, transport, fishing, migration and breeding, between others.»
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In addition to traditional economic sectors, a new opportunity has just taken shape. December 31, 2024 is a day to be marked with a white stone. It was in fact on the last day of the year that the first cubic meters of gas emerged from the depths of one of the wells of the important Grand Tortue Ahmeyim gas deposit located 115 km off the Mauritian coast. Senegalese. According to some estimates, over 20 years, the project should bring in between 80 and 90 billion dollars in revenue for Mauritania and Senegal. But first, the States should settle the dispute between them and the British BP, responsible for executing the project, suspected of overbilling. The two countries have decided to form a united front.
At the end of the visit, Nouakchott and Dakar “reaffirmed their determination to work jointly for stability, security and development in the Sahel region and underlined the importance of strengthening collaboration within regional frameworks, in order to meet the challenges linked to peace, the fight against terrorism and climate resilience.»
Par Amadou Seck (Nouakchott, correspondence)
01/17/2025 at 4:06 p.m.
