Financing agreements for two projects in the energy sector in Mauritania worth a total of 289.50 million US dollars relating to solar energy production, transnational electrical interconnection and rural electrification have been reached signed last Thursday, January 25 in Nouakchott. The signing took place between the Mauritanian Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, Abdessalam Mohamed Saleh, and the Deputy Director General of the African Development Bank for North Africa, Malinne

The financing, consisting of loans and grants, is intended to implement the 225-Kv Mauritania-Mali electrical interconnection project and the development of associated solar power plants (PIEMM) as well as the project to strengthen productive and energy investments for the sustainable development of rural areas (RIMDIR). The first PIEMM project consists in creating a 225 kV electrical interconnection to connect Mauritania to Mali as part of the Desert to Power Initiative. According to Abdelssalam Mohamed Saleh, “there is no sustainable and diversified economic growth without quality, reliable and accessible electricity for all. In this framework, the government has developed ambitious programs to guarantee access to electricity for all citizens by 2030, and this requires the optimal exploitation of the energy sources available in the country, to which this financing from the African Development Bank will contribute.”