Mauritania and Kuwait have signed agreements to bolster mutual cooperation in sectors like environment, communication and culture. The agreements were signed during the state visit of President Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz to Kuwait early this week. The Mauritanian who was accompanied by a high-level delegation including his ministers of foreign affairs, finance and environment and sustainable development met with Kuwaiti ruler Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.Mauritania and Kuwait enjoyed good bilateral ties till 1990. However, the relationship soured during the regime of former Mauritanian President Maaouya Ould Sid’Ahamed Tayeh when he condoned its annexation by Iraq’s late President Saddam Hussein. Nevertheless, later the diplomatic relations were restored and Kuwait became a prominent investor in Mauritania. In 2016, Kuwait agreed to invest nearly $17 million into Mauritania’s Caisse de Dépôt et de Développement (CDD). Last year, Kuwait extended a loan of $34 million to support a power project in South-East regions of Mauritania.
Meanwhile, business leaders and ministers from Mauritania and Saudi Arabia took part in a Saudi-Mauritanian Economic Forum, jointly organized by the Council of Saudi Chambers and the National Employers Union of Mauritania in the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott. The Forum examined opportunities to expand trade and investment co-operation between the two countries. Mohammed Ould Cheikh Ali Ahmed, head of the National Employers Union of Mauritania, observed that the forum reflected the keenness of the political leadership in both countries to “consolidate the ties of brotherhood and friendship.”Some of the focus sectors identified for co-operation included energy, mining, agriculture, fishing and animal development.
