Mauritania fully backs Morocco-led regional integration initiatives

In joining Morocco’s Atlantic initiative and the gas pipeline project, Mauritania has expressed full support for regional economic integration and taken its distances vis-à-vis Algeria’s schemes aiming to isolate Morocco in its neighborhood.

The recent meeting between King Mohammed VI and Mauritanian President V Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani in Casablanca sent a reassuring message with regards to the strong ties based on “trust” between the two neighbors.

A statement by the royal office issued after the meeting underscored Mauritania’s support for the royal initiative to help landlocked Sahel states access the Atlantic and the Morocco-Nigeria gas pipeline that is designed to enhance the regional integration of energy markets.

Mauritania’s support is vital for both initiatives. The country’s location make it a bridge between Morocco and the rest of Africa.

Mauritania is also poised to become the fourth largest gas producer in Africa. Hence the need for infrastructure such as the gas pipeline that will help Mauritanian gas reach new markets.

Morocco has already announced that the pipeline will be built through stages including a first phase of connecting the Senegalese and Mauritanian gas fields to Morocco, which has an existing pipeline with the European market.

For decades, Mauritania has been a market as well as a passage of Moroccan fresh produce to other Sahel nations. Its support for the Atlantic initiative sends a strong message of Mauritanian solidarity with its landlocked neighbors and its willingness to cooperate with Morocco on a project that will help improve the economies of the region, and consequently the living standards.

The royal office statement mentioned enhancing connectivity between the two countries. A vow that promises closer ties between the two neighbors on the basis of win-win partnerships and mutual respect.

Worth mentioning that Mauritania refused to join an Algerian attempt to create a new Maghreb Union, which was joined by Algerian proxy president Kais Saied of Tunisia and a fraction of Tripoli represented by Mohamed Younes el-Menfi whose legitimacy is often questioned.