Atalayar: Mauritania will become the third largest gas exporter in Africa after Nigeria and Algeria

The Spanish daily Atalayar confirmed that Mauritania will begin a new era after the discovery of large quantities of natural gas in the Ahmeem field, and that the first third of the current year 2024 is a date that Mauritanians are eagerly awaiting, because their country will rise to the ranks of countries exporting liquefied gas.

The Spanish newspaper confirmed in its article that the production field has an area of ​​33 thousand square kilometers and its reserves amount to 1,400 trillion cubic meters, which makes the assumed life of the field range between 30 to 50 years.

This means that Mauritania is about to become a major gas producer in the world, and one of the largest countries’ producers in Africa.

On the other hand, Atalayar newspaper indicated that Mauritania is facing a number of challenges, as a study conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in 2022 confirmed that Mauritania has become a country suffering from fragility, especially in the economic aspect, and also faces great risks on several fronts, especially with regard to resources and unemployment.

The state’s current account deficit, and the repercussions of the Covid-19 epidemic exacerbated these challenges, and had a major impact on the labor market and living conditions in general after causing the extreme poverty rate to rise to 6.3%.

However, the World Bank noted that there is remarkable economic growth in Mauritania, driven by an increase in exports and an increase in agricultural production, as the country achieved a growth rate of 4.3%, registering a decline compared to the rate of 7.1% it had recorded in 2022 due to a decline in iron and gold production.

To face the economic challenges that the country is suffering from, the Mauritanian government decided to focus its efforts to benefit from the natural resources that the country abounds, especially with regard to natural gas, as large quantities were discovered on the Mauritanian coast that will make the country one of the largest exporters of this material.

Mauritania also has large natural resources, as the Minister of Economy and Support of Productive Sectors confirmed that his country has enormous capabilities in the renewable energy sector, as the country is witnessing the influx of large investments that will make it an important energy center in West Africa, and experts believe that Mauritania will become the third largest exporter of gas. In Africa, after Nigeria and Algeria.

French regional expert Alain Antil, who is an author and a researcher at the French Institute for International Relations (IFRI), believes that Mauritania has advantages that cannot be ignored, as Nouakchott has been able to control the jihadist threat for more than ten years, and it enjoys social stability that exceeds what neighboring countries know, and it is also stable.

At the political level, with an executive authority that has been relatively open to dialogue since the election of President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani.