Between 2019 and 2023, there is a significant increase in exports from Senegal to Mauritania, said Monday in Dakar, Serigne Gueye Diop, Senegalese Minister of Industry and Trade.
“Senegalese exports to Mauritania have increased significantly, from 39.7 billion CFA francs in 2019 to 112.8 billion in 2023, an increase of 184 percent in relative value. Similarly, Senegal’s imports from Mauritania will increase by 37 percent in relative value, from 3.3 billion in 2019 to 4.6 billion in 2023. While we welcome this increase, it is unfortunate that our trade does not live up to its enormous potential, which is insufficiently exploited by economic operators on both sides. We must therefore work together to boost our bilateral trade, especially in the context of strengthening intra-African trade, notably through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA),” said Serigne Gueye Diop.
Speaking at the opening of the first edition of the Senegal-Mauritania Economic Forum (FESM), Diop said that the continental market undoubtedly represents an opportunity to strengthen trade integration between the two countries, but also to develop complementary value chains.
“In this perspective, we must work in synergy to eliminate the existing tariff and non-tariff barriers in the trade relations between the two countries, coordinate the implementation of the legal and operational instruments of the AfCFTA through the cooperation of our competent administrations, in particular those that facilitate exchange rates and support the integration of small and medium-sized enterprises in regional and continental value chains,” he added.
According to him, the areas of cooperation between Dakar and Nouakchott, in addition to trade and the economy, focus on diplomacy and regional integration, security cooperation, management of maritime and water resources, particularly within the framework of the Organisation for the Development of the Senegal River (OMVS), among others.
“In terms of diplomatic cooperation, relations have been established since the independence of the two countries and our two states cooperate within regional and international organisations of which they are both members. In other areas, I would like to highlight with satisfaction some important results, including the signing, in January 1971, of a bilateral convention to eliminate double taxation and combat tax evasion, the signing of fisheries agreements to address the scarcity of fishery resources and promote sustainable fishing, the facilitation of the supply of livestock for the celebration of religious festivals, the signing of an agreement on the tax regime applicable to the companies responsible for the execution of the common markets of the Rosso Bridge, the establishment of a framework for combating cross-border crime, as well as the regular holding of meetings of the commanders of the border zones to facilitate coordination and the resolution of problems that may arise in the border area of the two states,” Diop said.
The Mauritanian Minister of Mines and Industry, Tidjane Thiam, stressed the fishing agreements between the two countries, as well as livestock farming and its investment potential for Senegalese businessmen.
“Today, the development of the livestock sector is a development lever that we must work on. With an annual production potential of 180,000 tons of red meat, 213,000 tons of milk and nearly 5 million pieces of raw hides, investment opportunities are opening up for our two private sectors,” said Mr. Thiam.
TE/sf/lb/as/APA