OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES IN MAURITANIA'S

UNCLAS NOUAKCHOTT 000912

SIPDIS


E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV ECON PREF SNAR MR
SUBJECT: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES IN MAURITANIA'S
SECOND CITY


1. (U) Summary: Mission personnel have made several trips in
September and October to Mauritania's second city of
Nouadhibou. The city offers unique opportunities and
challenges for U.S. engagement as both the center of economic
activity in Mauritania and as the cross-roads for drugs and
alien smuggling. End Summary


2. (U) Second City: Nouadhibou, capital of the Dakhlat
Nouadhibou province, is Mauritania's second city with a
population of some 150,000. About 60,000 residents are
involved in fishing either as artisanal fishermen, crew
members for commercial vessels, or in fish processing
activities. The Port of Nouadhibou transfers 12 million tons
of iron ore from mines 300 miles away in Zouerate -- the rail
line to the mine supports what are billed the longest trains
in the world. The national mining company, SNIM, is one of
the most important employers in the region and is key to
support of many social services. Nouadhibou figures
importantly in Mission activities. In the past month the
U.S. Coast Guard trained naval and fishery officials on
boarding and inspection techniques, the Embassy inaugurated a
DOD-funded clinic and USAID-funded water project, and public
diplomacy began preparations for a November cultural event.
Also in November, the Mission will begin a DOD-supported mine
awareness campaign for towns along the border with Western
Sahara.


3. (U) Economy: The provincial governor or "wali," Abdi
Ould Horma, has ambitious plans for his province -- telling
EmbOffs he wanted to make Nouadhibou the "Dubai of Africa" as
a major transshipment hub. While somewhat over ambitious,
the wali told Charge the Government would include a
development program for Nouadhibou in its Paris Club
Consultative Group meeting in Paris December 4-6. The
proposal will call for expansion of the ore-handling pier,
expansion of the container terminal and expansion of fish
processing facilities. The wali noted that the completion of
the highway to Nouakchott two years ago had significantly
increased truck traffic through the border post with Morocco
with products moving daily between Morocco and West Africa --
previously, the current 4 hour trip had to be done over two
or more days driving on the beach to the capital.
Substantial new Chinese orders for iron ore will open new ore
fields and increase annual exports -- although these orders
have also challenged SNIM to find the cash needed to expand
production and export capacity. The port currently does not
meet demand for pier space. An EC proposal to remove the
multiple scuttled vessels that litter the harbor is expected
to increase traffic.


4. (U) Fishing: The fishing industry has the greatest
employment impact on Nouadhibou. European, Korean and
Chinese fishing vessels ply the rich resources off the coast.
A 2006 EU fishing agreement with Mauritania provides for
over 110 million Euros annually in economic support and
license fees. The Director of the National Oceanography and
Fisheries Institute in Nouadhibou told Charge that "we
recognize that fish are our one renewable resource. If we
manage it well, it will last forever; however, if we are not
careful, everything could be lost in a few years and take
decades to rebuild." He noted come concern over Chinese
fishing vessels -- the Chinese have 60 - 70 fishing vessels
operating in and about the port -- since they employ drag net
techniques that can destroy the habitat. The EU has been
working with Nouadhibou fish processing plants to improve
phyto-sanitary standards to allow for increases exports to
Europe of fish not caught by the European fleet (that
operates and processes off-shore). The EU has reported
improvements which would also assist Mauritania to explore
AGOA export options to the U.S.


5. (U) Boat People: Government officials highlight the
difficulty in responding to a growing movement of West
African migrants trying to reach Spain's Canary Islands in
open pirogues launching from beaches near Nouadhibou or
smuggled in fishing boats. On October 26, a Spanish fishing
boat discovered the sole survivor of one such pirogue that
had left from near Nouadhibou on October 3. The boat ran out
of fuel a day out of port (reportedly because the crew had
been swindled when they discovered their jerry-cans of fuel
were filled instead with water). Adrift for over a month,
the passengers set upon each other reportedly throwing the
weakest overboard. While Spanish authorities -- who station
two patrol boats and a surveillance helicopter in Nouadhibou
-- report that the migrant flow is down, the numbers are
still in the hundreds each month. The wali told Emboffs the
government had limited legal standing to prevent attempted
boat crossings by the largely West African would-be migrants.
Freedom-of-movement agreements between Mauritania and most
ECOWAS countries allows non-Mauritanians to stay in
Nouadhibou while they look for a boat. He said, "only if we
find a van load of people at 3 o'clock in the morning with an
outboard motor in the back seat, can we arrest anyone."


Mayor Mohamed Fdel Ould Abu Bekrim told Emb Offs the migrants
had also brought the problems one would expect with such a
desperate population -- stress on the city's sparse services,
criminality, and prostitution with the corresponding spread
of AIDS.


6. (U) Drugs: In addition to alien smuggling, drugs also
pass through Nouadhibou. In the spring, a small plane making
an emergency landing in Nouadhibou was discovered to be
carrying over 500 kilos of cocaine. Last week, police seized
over 5000 kilos of hashish in two trucks using a smuggling
route into Morocco. The wali noted that the border is thinly
patrolled and that the "no man's land" on the opposite side
of the border (a strip nominally administered by the UN
MINURSO mission in Western Sahara) is a wild area locally
referred to as "Khandahar." The mayor told PAO the drug
trade made him particularly concerned about the well-being of
Nouadhibou's many unemployed youth and sought U.S. assistance
to support youth centers and income generation schemes.

HANKINS