The Mouvement des Entreprises de France (MEDEF International) and the Banque Publique d’Investissement (Bpifrance) co-organized from 08 to 10 March 2023 in Nouakchott, in partnership with the Agency for the Promotion of Investments in Mauritania (APIM) and the National Union of Mauritanian Employers (UNPM), a Mauritania – France Business Forum.
More than 40 French companies participated in this forum, as well as dozens of Mauritanian companies and actors from the national private sector. The purpose of this forum, which spanned 3 days, is to develop trade and investment between the two countries, explore new business opportunities and strengthen existing partnerships.
The forum was opened by the Secretary General of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Promotion of the productive sectors, Mr. Yacoub OULD AHMED AICHA, who explained that this meeting is part of the work undertaken by APIM to strengthen the flow of business between private sector actors in Mauritania and France. In this regard, he invited the various companies participating in this forum to take advantage of this opportunity to develop successful, fruitful and lasting partnerships in various economic fields. In this regard, the Secretary General pointed out that Mauritania offers great investment opportunities in different economic sectors, but that these opportunities are not yet sufficiently exploited.
The Director General of APIM, Ms. Aïssata LAM, mentioned that this forum represents a key step in the path of the development of economic exchanges between private sector actors in Mauritania and France. She stressed that the many actions carried out clearly confirm that the various partners share a common desire to strengthen and make the historical and economic ties between our two countries prosper.
The President of the French business delegation, Mr. Eric Bastien BALLOUHEY in turn expressed his satisfaction with these new steps taken in the framework of cooperation between the two parties in various fields, including the productive sectors and technologies. He appreciated the measures taken by the public authorities to significantly improve the investment climate in Mauritania, in particular with the creation of a High Council for Investment, chaired by the President of the Republic.
The Director of Foreign Investments at Bpifrance, Mr. Hugues LATOURETTE expressed the will of his structure to strengthen cooperation with the Mauritanian private sector through assistance and technical support, on the basis of the great experience that Bpifrance has in this domain.
On the sidelines of the work to launch the forum, two cooperation agreements were signed, the first relates to the creation of a cooperation framework between the UNPM and MEDEF International. As for the second agreement, it was signed between the Maurinvest-Maurilog group and the Bpifrance and Bond’innov groups to create an innovation hub in Nouakchott in Mauritania.
