Morocco and Mauritania have signed an agreement to rehabilitate and widen 480 kilometres of road between Nouadhibou and Nouakchott, a section used by much of the overland traffic linking Morocco with Mauritania and onward to Senegal.
The framework agreement was signed in Rabat on Monday, September 21, by Morocco’s Minister of Equipment and Water Nizar Baraka and Mauritania’s Minister of Equipment and Transport Ely Ould El Veirik. It covers Mauritania’s RN4 between Nouakchott, Nouadhibou and kilometre point 55, near the border with Morocco.
The agreement covers the rehabilitation, widening and maintenance of the road, as well as closer technical cooperation between the two countries. A joint technical office is due to be established in Mauritania to oversee implementation.
From Guerguerat to Nouakchott
To the north, the road connects with Morocco’s network through the Guerguerat crossing before continuing towards Dakhla. South of Nouakchott, road links continue towards Senegal through Rosso and on to Dakar.
The RN4 therefore forms part of the coastal road corridor used by hauliers travelling between Morocco, Mauritania and West Africa. The wider Nouadhibou-Nouakchott-Rosso-Dakar corridor has also been the subject of regional integration projects backed by the African Development Bank.
The Nouakchott-Nouadhibou road carries a significant share of heavy-goods traffic between Morocco and Mauritania. The upgrade is intended to improve conditions for hauliers and address maintenance and road-quality problems along the route.
Further south, the Rosso bridge is expected to remove another bottleneck on the route between Nouakchott and Dakar. Co-financed by institutions including the African Development Bank, the European Investment Bank and the European Union, the bridge is designed to provide a permanent crossing of the Senegal River and reduce delays at the border.
Morocco expands transport links towards West Africa
The Mauritanian road project comes as Morocco develops a series of transport links aimed at improving access to West African markets.
In December 2023, Rabat launched an initiative intended to give landlocked Sahel countries access to the Atlantic Ocean. The plan involves connecting their infrastructure with regional road, port and rail networks and making Moroccan infrastructure available to participating countries.
The 480-kilometre road upgrade in Mauritania does not by itself provide access for Sahel countries to the Atlantic. It does, however, strengthen the coastal link between Morocco’s road network and Nouakchott, before the route continues south towards Rosso and Dakar.