Mauritania Country Commercial Guide
Learn about the market conditions, opportunities, regulations, and business conditions in mauritania, prepared by at U.S. Embassies worldwide by Commerce Department, State Department and other U.S. agencies’ professionals
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Market Overview
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Mauritania is a small but strategically placed country bridging North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. The economy relies heavily on extractive industries, with iron ore, gold, and fisheries long forming the backbone of exports. A major turning point arrived in 2025 with the first export of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) offshore LNG project – which Mauritania shares with Senegal – operated by BP and Kosmos Energy. With these initial exports, Mauritania is now on the global LNG map, and the project is expected to generate significant revenues over the next decade. At the same time, the government has launched a dedicated green hydrogen code and a national hydrogen agency to attract large-scale investments in renewable energy and green ammonia, including multi-billion-dollar projects led by Chariot, CWP, and Polish and Chinese developers.

Mauritania’s broader economy remains modest in scale. GDP growth slowed to approximately 5.2% in 2024, down from 6.5% in 2023, and the IMF projects slower growth for 2025 of approximately 4% due primarily to a slowdown in the extractives sector. Inflation decreased to 0.9 percent by mid-2025 and remained within the Central Bank’s target. Most formal economic activity is concentrated in the capital Nouakchott, the port city Nouadhibou, and along the Senegal River valley, where irrigated agriculture is centered.  Infrastructure continues to improve: the landmark 100 MW Boulenouar wind farm is online, the first grid-connected battery energy storage system (BESS) is under development, and logistics corridors are expanding, particularly through iron-ore rail upgrades. Mauritania remains an active member of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and maintains strong bilateral trade ties with China, Europe, and the Gulf.

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Global Business Navigator Chatbot Beta

Welcome to the Global Business Navigator, an artificial intelligence (AI) Chatbot from the International Trade Administration (ITA). This tool, currently in beta version testing, is designed to provide general information on the exporting process and the resources available to assist new and experienced U.S. exporters. The Chatbot, developed using Microsoft’s Azure AI services, is trained on ITA’s export-related content and aims to quickly get users the information they need. The Chatbot is intended to make the benefits of exporting more accessible by understanding non-expert language, idiomatic expressions, and foreign languages.

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