Latest news with #Nouakchott
Arab News
08-07-2025
- Business
- Arab News
IsDB approves $277m to boost jobs, health care, green transport in member states
JEDDAH: Job creation, better health care, and greener transportation are set to advance in several member countries as the Islamic Development Bank approved $277 million in financing. In its 361st meeting, chaired by President Mohammed bin Sulaiman Al-Jasser, the IsDB approved financing for projects in Mauritania, Cote d'Ivoire, and The Gambia, it said in a statement on July 7. As a leading multilateral development institution in the Islamic world, the IsDB focuses on fostering inclusive economic growth, strengthening human capital, and enhancing infrastructure across its 57 member countries. Through long-term partnerships and targeted investments in key sectors, the bank supports sustainable development and improves the quality of life throughout the Islamic nation. In #Mauritania, #IsDB has approved EUR 26.18 million to expand the National Cardiology Center in #Nouakchott, a vital step to: Reduce premature deaths from cardiovascular diseases & Meeting rising demand for specialized healthcare. Read More: — IsDB Group (@isdb_group) July 7, 2025 The Jeddah-headquartered global funding organization added that this round of development financing highlights its firm commitment to transformative projects that generate tangible impact and advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals. 'The approved financing package spans vital sectors, namely health care, education, and transportation and is focused on addressing urgent development challenges, from improving urban mobility to strengthening public health systems and building human capital,' the statement said. In Mauritania, the IsDB allocated €26.18 million ($30.7 million) to expand the National Cardiology Center in Nouakchott. The initiative aims to enhance the country's capacity to prevent and treat cardiovascular diseases, a leading cause of premature death, and improve access to specialized, life-saving care for thousands of people, the statement added. Côte d'Ivoire will benefit from a major #IsDB investment of EUR 200 million in the Abidjan Urban Mobility Project, a transformative initiative that will: Enhance sustainable transport, Ease congestion, & Improve access to jobs and services. Read More:… — IsDB Group (@isdb_group) July 7, 2025 In Cote d'Ivoire, a €200 million financing package will support the Abidjan Sustainable and Integrated Urban Mobility Project, a major initiative to upgrade the city's public transportation system. The undertaking seeks to enhance access to financial and social opportunities while boosting the efficiency of transit along the Yopougon-Bingerville corridor and its feeder lines in Abidjan, the country's economic capital and largest city. It also aims to reduce congestion, encourage greener transportation, and facilitate easier travel for residents — especially those in underserved areas — to jobs, schools, and essential services. In The Gambia, meanwhile, the bank is investing $32.20 million to help establish the School of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences at the University of The Gambia. With US$ 32.20 million in new financing from #IsDB, The #Gambia is set to launch the School of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences. This project aims to: Train future healthcare professionals, & Expand national research capacity. Read More: — IsDB Group (@isdb_group) July 7, 2025 'This initiative will help address the country's critical shortage of health care professionals by building a pipeline of locally trained doctors, nurses, and public health experts, ultimately improving the quality and resilience of the national health system,' the statement said. In May, the IsDB approved over $1.32 billion in funding for key projects during its 360th board meeting. The funding included a $632 million flood protection dams project in Oman aimed at reducing climate-related risks, a €212 million road rehabilitation initiative in Cameroon to enhance regional connectivity, and major infrastructure improvements in Burkina Faso. Spanning sectors such as health, infrastructure, food security, vocational training and water access, the investments also reflected the bank's comprehensive approach to promoting sustainable development in its member states.
Japan Times
26-06-2025
- Politics
- Japan Times
Ukraine turns to Africa in its struggle against Russia
On Africa's dry western tip, Mauritania has become an unlikely staging post for Ukraine's increasingly global struggle with its adversary Russia. Kyiv's new embassy in the country's capital Nouakchott — among eight it has opened in Africa since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine — has overseen food aid deliveries to refugees from neighboring Mali, embassy and aid officials say. Kyiv is also offering to train Mauritanian soldiers, Ukraine's top envoy to Africa said, amid tension between Mauritania and Mali, where Moscow backs government forces against Tuareg rebels. Moscow's soldiers and mercenaries guard presidents in several West and Central African countries, while Russian mining companies are entrenched in the Sahel region that includes Mali. Russia's military presence in the Sahel "undermined stability," the envoy, Maksym Subkh, said in an interview in Kyiv. "Ukraine is ready to continue training officers and representatives of the Mauritanian armed forces, to share the technologies and achievements that Ukraine has made" on the battlefield against Russia, Subkh said, adding that Ukraine had previously provided such training prior to Russia's invasion. The Mauritanian government did not respond to a request for comment about Ukraine's offer of more training. Russia's embassy in Mauritania did not respond to a request for comment. Earlier in June, the Kremlin said Russia would increase cooperation with African countries including in sensitive areas such as defense. Russia is the largest weapons supplier to Africa, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Interviews with four senior Ukrainian officials, two aid officials and Western diplomats and analysts for this story, along with access to new missions in Mauritania and Democratic Republic of Congo, reveal new details about Kyiv's Africa strategy including the deliveries of aid to Malian refugees, the proposal to train Mauritania's military, and the broader bid to counter Russia's much more entrenched presence. Early in the Ukraine war, many African countries declined to take Kyiv's side at the United Nations, even after Russia's bombing of Ukraine's ports drove up prices on the continent as exports of food and fertilizer were curtailed. Months later, Ukraine produced its first Africa strategy, a public document. The stated goals were to counter Russia's narrative and increase trade and investment on a continent that remembers Russian support in the Cold War and Moscow's stance against apartheid. Subkh was appointed to lead the effort, and Kyiv has since opened eight out of 10 new embassies announced in 2022, he said, bringing to 18 the number of missions Ukraine has in Africa. Host countries include Ivory Coast and Congo, which condemned Russia's invasion early on. Kyiv plans to open an embassy this year in Sudan, where Russia is accused by the U.S. of arming both sides in a brutal conflict. Russia denies a role there. However, Kyiv cannot match an opponent with deep commercial and security ties, including a long-standing presence of Moscow's intelligence agencies. In total, Russia has around 40 missions in Africa, and recently announced plans to open seven more. Fight for freedom? Ukraine wants to persuade African nations that its fight against Russia, its Soviet-era master, has parallels with their own efforts to overcome the legacy of European colonialism, Subkh said. Despite the offer of military training, Ukraine's wartime effort to win African allies has largely focused on food. Kyiv says it has sent nearly 300,000 metric tons as aid, distributed through the World Food Program (WFP) under an EU and U.S.-financed scheme called Grain from Ukraine that rivals a similar Russian food aid plan for Africa. The Ukrainian-branded aid has reached 8 million people in 12 countries, the European Policy Centre, a think-tank, said in April. Recipients have included Congo, Ethiopia, Somalia, Nigeria, Kenya and Sudan. Workers prepare bags of food aid for distribution by the WFP in Nouakchott, Mauritania, on Nov. 19, 2024. | WFP / via REUTERS In Mauritania it has mostly been destined for Mbera, West Africa's largest refugee camp, housing soaring numbers of Malians fleeing the Russia-backed forces across the border. And after the reopening of Black Sea ports bombarded and blockaded by Russia in the first two years of war, Ukraine exported nearly 10 million metric tons of grain to Africa in 2024, almost double the previous year, agriculture ministry data shows. By showing it is a major alternative to Russian food supplies, Ukraine hopes African nations that have maintained neutrality over the war will begin to pressure Moscow to end the war in Ukraine. "Maintaining its role as one of the guarantors of the world's food security, Ukraine can prevent Russia from using food supplies as political leverage," Roman Sereda, Ukraine's charge d'affaires in Nouakchott, where Russia has had an embassy for six decades, said in an interview. Ukraine is gaining visibility. In April, Volodymyr Zelenskyy became the first Ukrainian president to visit South Africa, a close Russia ally. He called for recognition of Ukraine's struggle and playing up potential deals on energy, fertilizer production and security. South African foreign ministry spokesperson Chrispin Phiri said both Ukraine and Russia were allies. He said South Africa advocated for peace and was mediating on humanitarian issues such as the return of Ukrainian children Kyiv says were taken to Russia. However, South African analyst Tim Murithi said Ukraine's Africa strategy lacked coherence, pointing out that Kyiv had not nominated an ambassador in Ethiopia, a key posting that countries including Russia use to engage with the influential African Union, based in Addis Ababa. Ukraine's commercial exports are heavily tilted towards North Africa, with sub-Saharan nations including Ethiopia, Kenya and Nigeria buying a fraction of what they imported before the war, Ukrainian data shows. Mauritania, itself, bought far less food from Ukraine last year than in 2021. There have been setbacks in Ukraine's Africa drive, such as the downgrading of a planned October 2024 Ukraine-Africa summit to a video conference. Moscow hosted a well-attended Africa summit in 2023. "At the beginning, they wanted to have it physically in Kyiv," said Jean-Yves Ollivier, chairman of the Brazzaville Foundation, a conflict prevention organization that Ukraine consulted on the summit. The downgrade has not previously been reported. Subkh did not respond to a request for comment about the event. Mali refugees At times, Ukraine's higher profile has been controversial. Mali broke off relations with Kyiv over a Tuareg rebel attack in July that wiped out 47 Malian soldiers and 84 Russian fighters supporting the government, after a Ukrainian intelligence official appeared to suggest Ukrainian involvement. Ukraine has since strongly denied it was involved. Ukraine had no role in covert operations in the region, Subkh said. Now, a small quantity of Ukraine's aid has reached the Malian refugees fleeing the violence, WFP's spokesperson in Mauritania confirmed in response to questions for this story. The camp's population has almost tripled in two years to about 250,000 people. Three deliveries amounting to a total of about 1,400 metric tons had arrived in Mauritania by December, one of Ukraine's diplomats in Nouakchott, Viktor Bort, said. The split peas, vegetable oil and wheat were still being distributed to Mbera in May, the WFP spokesperson said. Bort, 29, who staffed the mission alone when it opened in May 2024, said his focus was to build relationships in the government and oversee the deliveries of aid to WFP for the Malian refugees, whom he said were fleeing Russians. Kyiv's senior Africa envoy, Subkh, said aid distribution was decided by WFP. Ukraine's contributions were strictly humanitarian and the country opposed politicizing aid, he said. Mauritania's communications ministry said the government had accepted Ukrainian food aid deliveries. It said it did not know that Ukrainian aid had reached the camp. Thinly staffed Ukraine's new missions are thinly staffed, and it has sought support from volunteers and donors. Two diplomats from other countries said the embassy official in Mauritania, Bort, initially traveled without security, relying on friendly envoys from other countries for help, but quickly gained notice for his energy and networking. Sereda, the charge d'affaires who joined Bort some months ago, said Ukraine's outreach and aid deliveries had improved Kyiv's reputation and Mauritanians' understanding of its position, with increased trade links hopefully to follow. The Mauritanian government declined to comment. Elsewhere, aid recipients have included war-ravaged Democratic Republic of Congo, where Ukraine's ambassador Vasyl Hamianin said the two countries were discussing long-term agriculture and food security agreements. "We accepted the Ukrainian embassy in a spirit of openness and cooperation. There is no need to link its presence to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine," Congo's presidential office said in a statement.
Zawya
25-06-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Shelter Afrique Development Bank extends $15mln housing loan to Banque Mauritanienne de l'Investissement
Nouakchott, Mauritania – Shelter Afrique Development Bank (ShafDB), a leading Pan-African multilateral development bank committed to financing and advancing housing, urban, and related infrastructure development, has signed a USD 15 million loan agreement with Banque Mauritanienne de l'Investissement (BMI) to finance affordable housing in Mauritania. The transaction signed Monday in Nouakchott, Mauritania, is part of the ShafDB's strategy to promote access to decent housing for low- and middle-income populations in Africa, and will strengthen Mauritania's housing finance ecosystem, particularly for under-served populations. The loan will be used to co-finance the construction of 1,000 homes in the town of ZOUÉRATT and the servicing of 1,000 plots in the commune of TEVRAGH ZEINA for the diaspora and residents. Commenting on the agreement, Shelter Afrique Development Bank Managing Director Mr Thierno-Habib Hann noted that ShafDB and the BMI shared a similar vision: to help the diaspora and residents of the town of ZOUÉRATT to build their own homes. 'This partnership with BMI will make it possible to offer affordable and decent housing to low-income households, filling part of the 50,000 housing deficit in Mauritania in a context where urbanisation is growing at a rate of 4%," said Mr Hann,' said Mr. Hann. BMI Managing Director Mohamed Yahya Sidi welcomed the agreement, saying his institution was honoured to work with Shelter Afrique Development Bank to finance affordable housing projects in Mauritania. "This partnership strengthens our commitment to Mauritania's socio-economic development, broadens our inclusive housing finance solutions, and confirms our support for the country's ambitious urban development programme," said Mr. Sidi. Through this partnership, it is estimated that around 5,000 jobs will be created, 12,400 people will benefit from the project and 2,000 households will gain access to housing through self-build or direct purchase. About Shelter Afrique Development Bank Established in 1981 in Lusaka, Zambia, Shelter Afrique Development Bank (ShafDB) is a Pan-African Multilateral Development Bank (MDB) dedicated to promoting and financing sustainable green housing, urban development and related infrastructure. It operates through a shareholding of 44 African governments and two institutional shareholders: African Development Bank (AfDB) and African Reinsurance Corporation (Africa-Re). The institution is involved in financing housing and related infrastructure across the value chain, both on the demand and supply sides, through its four (4) business lines: Financial Institutions Group (FIG), the Project Finance Group (PFG), the Sovereign and Public-Private partnerships (PPP) Group, and the Fund Management Group (FMG). About Banque Mauritanienne de l'Investissement (BMI) Banque Mauritanienne de l'Investissement (BMI) is a leading financial institution in Mauritania, providing innovative Islamic banking services tailored to individuals, SMEs, and corporations. The bank is bank committed to supporting economic growth and social development in Mauritania. For further inquiries, please contact: Communication Team | Shelter Afrique| Shelter Afrique Centre | Longonot Road – Upper Hill| Email: info@ OR Mike Omuodo | Media Fast PR| Email: |
Reuters
25-06-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Insight: Africa on a shoestring: Ukraine seeks allies with aid and embassies
NOUAKCHOTT, June 25 (Reuters) - On Africa's dry western tip, Mauritania has become an unlikely staging post for Ukraine's increasingly global struggle with its adversary Russia. Kyiv's new embassy in the country's capital Nouakchott - among eight it has opened in Africa since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine - has overseen food aid deliveries to refugees from neighbouring Mali, embassy and aid officials say. Kyiv is also offering to train Mauritanian soldiers, Ukraine's top envoy to Africa told Reuters, amid tension between Mauritania and Mali, where Moscow backs government forces against Tuareg rebels. Moscow's soldiers and mercenaries guard presidents in several West and Central African countries, while Russian mining companies are entrenched in the Sahel region that includes Mali. Russia's military presence in the Sahel "undermined stability", the envoy, Maksym Subkh said in an interview in Kyiv. "Ukraine is ready to continue training officers and representatives of the Mauritanian armed forces, to share the technologies and achievements that Ukraine has made" on the battlefield against Russia, Subkh said, adding that Ukraine had previously provided such training prior to Russia's invasion. The Mauritanian government did not respond to a request for comment about Ukraine's offer of more training. Russia's embassy in Mauritania did not respond to a request for comment. Earlier in June, the Kremlin said Russia would increase cooperation with African countries including in sensitive areas such as defence. Russia is the largest weapons supplier to Africa, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Reuters' interviews with four senior Ukrainian officials, two aid officials and Western diplomats and analysts for this story, along with access to new missions in Mauritania and Democratic Republic of Congo, reveal new details about Kyiv's Africa strategy including the deliveries of aid to Malian refugees, the proposal to train Mauritania's military, and the broader bid to counter Russia's much more entrenched presence. Early in the Ukraine war, many African countries declined to take Kyiv's side at the United Nations, even after Russia's bombing of Ukraine's ports drove up prices on the continent as exports of food and fertiliser were curtailed. Months later, Ukraine produced its first Africa strategy, a public document. The stated goals were to counter Russia's narrative and increase trade and investment on a continent that remembers Russian support in the Cold War and Moscow's stance against apartheid. Subkh was appointed to lead the effort, and Kyiv has since opened eight out of 10 new embassies announced in 2022, he said, bringing to 18 the number of missions Ukraine has in Africa. Host countries include Ivory Coast and Congo, which condemned Russia's invasion early on. Kyiv plans to open an embassy this year in Sudan, where Russia is accused by the U.S. of arming both sides in a brutal conflict. Russia denies a role there. However, Kyiv cannot match an opponent with deep commercial and security ties, including a long-standing presence of Moscow's intelligence agencies. In total, Russia has around 40 missions in Africa, and recently announced plans to open seven more. Ukraine wants to persuade African nations that its fight against Russia, its Soviet-era master, has parallels with their own efforts to overcome the legacy of European colonialism, Subkh said. Despite the offer of military training, Ukraine's wartime effort to win African allies has largely focused on food. Kyiv says it has sent nearly 300,000 tonnes as aid, distributed through the World Food Programme (WFP) under an EU and U.S.-financed scheme called Grain from Ukraine that rivals a similar Russian food aid plan for Africa. The Ukrainian-branded aid has reached 8 million people in 12 countries, the European Policy Centre, a think-tank, said in April. Recipients have included Congo, Ethiopia, Somalia, Nigeria, Kenya and Sudan. In Mauritania it has mostly been destined for Mbera, West Africa's largest refugee camp, housing soaring numbers of Malians fleeing the Russia-backed forces across the border. And after the reopening of Black Sea ports bombarded and blockaded by Russia in the first two years of war, Ukraine exported nearly 10 million tonnes of grain to Africa in 2024, almost double the previous year, agriculture ministry data shows. By showing it is a major alternative to Russian food supplies, Ukraine hopes African nations that have maintained neutrality over the war will begin to pressure Moscow to end the war in Ukraine. "Maintaining its role as one of the guarantors of the world's food security, Ukraine can prevent Russia from using food supplies as political leverage," Roman Sereda, Ukraine's chargé d'affaires in Nouakchott, where Russia has had an embassy for six decades, said in an interview. Ukraine is gaining visibility. In April, Volodymyr Zelenskiy became the first Ukrainian president to visit South Africa, a close Russia ally. He called for recognition of Ukraine's struggle and playing up potential deals on energy, fertiliser production and security. South African foreign ministry spokesman Chrispin Phiri said both Ukraine and Russia were allies. He said South Africa advocated for peace and was mediating on humanitarian issues such as the return of Ukrainian children Kyiv says were taken to Russia. However, South African analyst Tim Murithi said Ukraine's Africa strategy lacked coherence, pointing out that Kyiv had not nominated an ambassador in Ethiopia, a key posting that countries including Russia use to engage with the influential African Union, based in Addis Ababa. Ukraine's commercial exports are heavily tilted towards North Africa, with sub-Saharan nations including Ethiopia, Kenya and Nigeria buying a fraction of what they imported before the war, Ukrainian data shows. Mauritania itself bought far less food from Ukraine last year than in 2021. There have been setbacks in Ukraine's Africa drive, such as the downgrading of a planned October 2024 Ukraine-Africa summit to a video conference. Moscow hosted a well-attended Africa summit in 2023. "At the beginning, they wanted to have it physically in Kyiv," said Jean-Yves Ollivier, chairman of the Brazzaville Foundation, a conflict prevention organisation that Ukraine consulted on the summit. The downgrade has not previously been reported. Subkh did not respond to a request for comment about the event. At times, Ukraine's higher profile has been controversial. Mali broke off relations with Kyiv over a Tuareg rebel attack in July that wiped out 47 Malian soldiers and 84 Russian fighters supporting the government, after a Ukrainian intelligence official appeared to suggest Ukrainian involvement. Ukraine has since strongly denied it was involved. Ukraine had no role in covert operations in the region, Subkh said. Now, a small quantity of Ukraine's aid has reached the Malian refugees fleeing the violence, WFP's spokesperson in Mauritania confirmed in response to questions for this story. The camp's population has almost tripled in two years to about 250,000 people. Three deliveries amounting to a total of about 1,400 tonnes had arrived in Mauritania by December, one of Ukraine's diplomats in Nouakchott, Viktor Bort, said. The split peas, vegetable oil and wheat were still being distributed to Mbera in May, the WFP spokesperson said. Bort, 29, who staffed the mission alone when it opened in May 2024, told Reuters his focus was to build relationships in the government and oversee the deliveries of aid to WFP for the Malian refugees, who he said were fleeing Russians. Kyiv's senior Africa envoy, Subkh, said aid distribution was decided by WFP. Ukraine's contributions were strictly humanitarian and the country opposed politicising aid, he said. Mauritania's communications ministry said the government had accepted Ukrainian food aid deliveries. It said it did not know that Ukrainian aid had reached the camp. Ukraine's new missions are thinly staffed and it has sought support from volunteers and donors. Two diplomats from other countries said the embassy official in Mauritania, Bort, initially travelled without security, relying on friendly envoys from other countries for help, but quickly gained notice for his energy and networking. Sereda, the chargé d'affaires who joined Bort some months ago, said Ukraine's outreach and aid deliveries had improved Kyiv's reputation and Mauritanians' understanding of its position, with increased trade links hopefully to follow. The Mauritanian government declined to comment. Elsewhere, aid recipients have included war-ravaged Democratic Republic of Congo, where Ukraine's ambassador Vasyl Hamianin told Reuters the two countries were discussing long-term agriculture and food security agreements. "We accepted the Ukrainian embassy in a spirit of openness and cooperation. There is no need to link its presence to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine," Congo's presidential office said in a statement.
Free Malaysia Today
29-05-2025
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
Former Mauritanian president jailed for 15 years
The former president led the country for a decade after coming to power in a 2008 coup. (EPA Images pic) NOUAKCHOTT : Mauritania's former president, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Wednesday on corruption charges following an appeal to a Nouakchott court by both the state and Aziz's defence against a sentence imposed in 2023. Abdel Aziz led the West African country for a decade after coming to power in a 2008 coup, followed by an election a year later. He was an ally of Western powers fighting Islamist militants in the Sahel region. Abdel Aziz, who has denied corruption allegations, was found guilty of economic crimes and abuse of power. He was initially handed a five-year prison sentence in Dec 2023 before the state appealed against the leniency of that punishment and Aziz's team appealed the ruling, saying only a high court of justice was qualified to try a former president. 'It is a decision that reflects the pressure the executive branch exerts on the judiciary,' defence lawyer Mohameden Ichidou told Reuters, adding that the defence would appeal against the decision to the Supreme Court. Brahim Ebety, one of the plaintiff lawyers for the Mauritanian state, welcomed the ruling. 'All the evidence has established that the former president, who single-handedly ruled the entire country, is the perpetrator of illicit enrichment, abuse of power, and money laundering,' he said. Abdel Aziz was elected on a five-year mandate in 2009 and for a second term in 2014. An election in 2019 led to a peaceful transfer of power to Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, initially an ally of Abdel Aziz, but whose parliament later brought charges against him.
