On the up

Mauritania’s Ousmane Mamadou Kane: ‘We can borrow on the international markets’

By Julien Clémençot, in Nouakchott

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Posted on August 17, 2022 12:32

© A man climbs down from a rooftop in the iron ore mining town of Zouerate June 23, 2014. Mauritania’s SNIM iron ore mining company aims to produce 13 million tonnes in 2014, around the same level as last year, the majority state-owned firm said. SNIM mines black iron ore in the northern town of Zouerate, a remote desert location which nevertheless attracts people from all over the country looking for work. SNIM employees proudly call their firm the lung of their nation’s economy and the train that ferries the ore to the coast stretches some two kilometres, making it one of the world’s longest. Picture taken June 23, 2014. REUTERS/Joe Penney — A man climbs down from a rooftop in the iron ore mining town of Zouerate June 23, 2014. Mauritania’s SNIM iron ore mining company aims to produce 13 million tonnes in 2014, around the same level as last year, the majority state-owned firm said. SNIM mines black iron ore in the northern town of Zouerate, a remote desert location which nevertheless attracts people from all over the country looking for work. SNIM employees proudly call their firm the lung of their nation’s economy and the train that ferries the ore to the coast stretches some two kilometres, making it one of the world’s longest. Picture taken June 23, 2014. REUTERS/Joe Penney

Despite the economic uncertainties linked to the war in Ukraine, Mauritania’s former central bank governor remains confident in his country’s ability to return to a sustained growth rate.

After two very difficult years, the Mauritanian economy is showing signs of improvement. But the situation remains delicate and the country is suffering, like the rest of the continent, from the rise in commodity prices and the persistent pandemic. According to the World Bank, inflation rose from 1.4% in October 2020 to 8.2% in April this year. To ease the burden of rising prices on households, the government is subsidising food and fuel. But these subsidies will soon become unsustainable for the state budget.

Minister of Economic Affairs and Promotion of Productive Sectors Ousmane Mamadou Kane, whom we interviewed in early July, remains optimistic that the country will be able to return to a sustained growth rate. To see the situation recover, he hopes, in particular, to be able to sign a support programme with the IMF and, within a few months, to set up a bond issue – a first for the

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