Mauritania - Algeria business ties

[Al-khiyal]

The Customs General Department has signed yesterday an agreement concerning the exchange of information with its Mauritanian counterpart, especially on smuggling. Mauritanian customs will take profit of the Algerian experience and in customs’ training and coordinate views between countries in the field of international customs’ cooperation.

The General Manager of Customs, Sid Ali Lebib, has indicated at the margin of the ratifying of PV of the joint commission of Algerian and Mauritanian Customs’ cooperation, in the seat of the General Direction of Customs, that the agreement on information between the two countries will help to fight “smugglers” that is to say money and goods on Algerian and Mauritanian borders.

In a question on if the agreement will include the security side Lebib has considered that it is out of the jurisdiction of the customs’ administration, which only has the task to protect the economy. He has not denied the fight against security and economic incursions in coordination with different specialized services.

The General Manager of Mauritanian Customs, Mr. Mohamed Oueld M’hamedou, has considered the meeting, which has lasted two days, as an impulse to the bilateral relations between the two countries especially in the customs and trade cooperation; he has expressed his wish to take profit of the Algerian customs experience in order to develop its administration in different fields.

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[Al-khiyal]

Mauritania approves maritime accord with Algeria

January 7, 2009 -- The Mauritanian Senate approved a draft law Tuesday (January 6th) creating a maritime fishing framework agreement with Algeria, ANI reported. Along with an accord on marine fisheries, the bill approved by Mauritanian legislators covers partnerships in vocational training and scientific research.

[Al-khiyal]

Roaring Ramadan trade boosts Algeria-Mauritania ties

August 20, 2009 -- Zouérat, a prosperous Mauritanian trade and mining hub, looks increasingly like the kind of prosperous gateway that can spur economic integration in the region. The opportunities presented by Zouérat become most evident around Ramadan, when Algeria and Mauritania's historic, geographic, and cultural similarities converge at this city in northwest Mauritania. Ramadan trade booms in this city of 35,000, bringing with it a flood of dates, vegetables, dried milk, oils and flour. In this season, the ranks of people who cross the Algerian-Mauritanian border every day swell with holiday travellers and even more traders than usual. The crossing also sees traffic by Polisario Front members, who find in Zouérat a livelihood to sustain the Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf.

Much of the traffic at this crossing, which opened in 1980, takes place by lorry. "Our trucks enter Mauritania every day with their foreign number plates, carrying different kinds of commodities," said Mohammed Ould Ahmed, a Sahrawi lorry driver. "We've never been subjected to any harassment," he added. "Our relations with the Mauritanian authorities are good, and we don't have any problems at all, thanks to the brotherly ties between Algeria and Mauritania." Ahmed's statement underscores a key factor underlying the success of Zouérat, which is the capital of Tiris Zemmour province: The city's hugely profitable "intermediate trade", as it is known, is characterised by a complete lack of customs. "However, the goods are not allowed to be transported to other Mauritanian cities without customs duties," said Ahmed. "We understand this very well."

The seasonal deluge of merchandise means the market is saturated, leading to spontaneous price cuts that benefit Zouérat's residents. In fact, though most of the city dwellers work in the iron mining industry, many families are living on revenues from cross-border trade and related domestic commerce. They buy vegetables as soon as they arrive from Algeria and sell them in nearby villages for a higher price. Other traders buy goods at the market and transport them by train to the city of Nouadhibou. The train provides free transport for various commodities to bridge the 650km distance.

The profits made by these traders guarantee them a decent living that includes access to better education and paid-up health care. "I remember when I was little; I would go with my father to buy goods from Algerians and Sahrawis for very low prices," said 32-year old Mohammed Fadhel. "After that, we would take them to Nouakchott and Nouadhibou and some other cities in the eastern part of the country. Now my father is very old, but I'm still working in this line of business," adds the trader. "I love this profession a lot, and it has generated very good money for me."

These families' stories confirm the observations of many analysts and economists, who see Zouérat as a model for economic unity in the region. "[These Maghreb] countries have huge wealth and enormous economic resources," said Elghassem Ould Mohamed, an economist. "They can therefore form a significant economic force in the event that the union, especially economic union, is realised. The trade between Mauritania and Algeria through the border city of Zouérat reflects the importance of a Maghreb union for the region and its peoples," said professor of economics Abdelrahmane Ould Sidi. "It's good to see the model being expanded to include other Maghreb countries." For people like Ahmed the lorry driver, though, it all boils down to good business. "Our profits are good, thank God, and they get even bigger during Ramadan," he said.