Cultural, scientific and technical cooperation

Mauritania is one of the African countries that receive most support per inhabitant from the international donor community (to the order of US$100 net in public aid for development (PAD) per inhabitant, equal to a quarter of GDP).

With levels of net disbursements of more than USD 25M per year (source DAC/OECD) over the past five years and its contributions to the EDF and IDA, France is the leading contributor of bilateral aid to Mauritania. In 2008, France transferred €20.4 million to Mauritania in net bilateral PAD payments. After the state overthrow in August 2008, France had suspended its new civil cooperation projects, other than food and humanitarian aid. The presidential election of 18 July 2009 and the return of constitutional order allowed for bilateral and international cooperation in Mauritania to be resumed. Overall budgetary aid of €3 million and a concessional sovereign loan of €20 million are pending, in order to accompany Mauritania on the way to sustainable development. In addition, an aid payment of €1.15 million was made in 2010 to assist populations affected by the food crisis.

To increase the predictability and readability of French aid, a Framework Partnership Document was signed on 30 October 2007. For the period of 2007-2011, French aid to Mauritania is expected to stand at €96.8M. The three sectors of concentration, which come under the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and account for 80% are French aid, are basic education and vocational training, water and sanitation, and the environment and biodiversity. Transversal actions will also be conducted in the areas of promoting cultural diversity and French teaching, support for the rule of law, decentralization and good local governance, as well as higher education and scientific research.

In terms of support for local development (decentralization, deconcentration, etc.), French-supported projects (cooperation, AFD, decentralized cooperation, etc.) will have concerned 140 of the country’s 216 districts.

On 26 May 2003, France cancelled €37M of Mauritania’s debts. An initial Debt Relief and Development Contract (C2D), intended primarily for education and covering the period of 2002-2005, was signed on 17 July 2003 for an amount of €14.7M. A second C2D was signed on 28 June 2006 for the period of 2006-2008 for a total of €11.85M. A third C2D intended on education, vocational training and local development was signed on 2 March 2010 for a total of €17,4M on five years.

Other than France, Spain and Germany, European countries still have only a limited presence in Mauritania. In the context of the 10th EDF (2008-2013), Mauritania receives a budget of €156M. This aid will be concentrated in the sectors of governance and communication and transport infrastructures.

Framework partnership document between France and Mauritania (2007-2011)

^{Updated on 27.07.10}