1- BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT
The unique climatic system let Mauritania
to
be known as one of the most productive
fishery coasts in the world, attracting international private and public operators since the
country’s independence. The unique climatic system let Mauritania
to
be known as one of the most productive
fishery coasts in the world, attracting international private and public operators since the
country’s independence.RAWAFEDInvestment & General Services is your gateway to Nouadhibou Zone as we
provide you with all services since you step into the airport, and provide you
with all consulting, services and executive solutions to start your project in
Nouadhibou. All you have to do is to communicate with us, so we can offer you
all information and details you need.The
economic capital city of Nouadhibou,
home of industrial and artisanal fishing, has been the fishing investment headquarters because of its geographic positioning and also
national
policy choices. The known upwelling phenomenon makes Nouadhibou one of the richest regions in the world in terms of
fishing resources. Mauritania remains one of the few areas in the world where the fishing industry is still likely to increase.
However, this natural resource of the coastline is under-used in the sense that little
value-added is currently being created and most exports had no land side effect and
consequently little impact on the local economy.
The
industry’s management focuses on
short term goals and little planning was made to maximize the benefits in the long run. Foreign boats account for over 60 percent of the total volume of catches.
They
directly freeze the fish onboard and export it without landing it, creating zero value-added in the
country and inhibiting local demand for investment and industrial projects.
While it seems to
appear that the
royalty and
rent
system
in
place is valuable
for public revenues, it has been made clear that local added-value of product and business model
diversification are more
valuable alternatives for the country in the long term. The particular opportunity or challenge for Nouadhibou is
to help transform its currently vibrant unsustainable onshore fish industry which represent the remaining 40 percent of the total catch (e.g., factories for fresh and frozen
fish, processing units, warehousing units, freezing units, etc.) into a sustainable one where shared infrastructure would
benefit
better these dozen of medium to large scale industries and create
the
right environment for relevant and focused fishing investment in pelagic, mainly: access to
the
port, better sanitation, trained labor, better monitoring of fish processing and other
business development support
service
To realize Nouadhibou potential,
the
Government of Mauritania created the
Nouadhibou Free Zone in 2013.
The
strategic objective of the Free Zone project is
to attract foreign direct investments (FDIs) that could contribute in establishing
public-
private partnerships (PPPs) to
bridge the infrastructure gap
and develop a value-added fishery
hub to optimize the socio-economic impact and develop industrial clusters in compliance with the national fish
domestication strategic program and the overall regional free zone industrial development strategy.
Indeed,
the
government
of
Mauritania has
put
in place
a
national domestication program
with objectives to ensure that added-value is provided nationally, obliging international and national fishing operators
to
process fish on national soil. This strategy aims
at promoting industrial development of the region – through free zone facilitations
and ensuring national creation of employment, wealth and knowledge.
The national implementation strategy for the Nouadhibou Free
Zone puts the development of a fishery competitive cluster as
a central pillar of its fishing industry
optimization program. Such cluster implies sustainable vertical integration of
fishery value chains to leverage the Free Zone comparative advantages in its natural assets and to transform the fishery industry.
The socio-economic objective to maximize
the value added in the entire value chain requires such competitive cluster to
focus on the development of appropriate and
strategically located infrastructures, capacity
building, and should offer all needed
services from boat landing to storage and export
of processed products.
Focusing on the fishery cluster is highly justified by the fact that the sector
is vital for Nouadhibou’s and the country’s economy. Given its important potential
for
jobs creation and direct SME
impact, Mauritania has no choice but to make it a top driver of its economic
growth with Nouadhibou
as the strategic
location of implementation.
Through the Fishing Competitive Cluster, Mauritania
has
the opportunity to transform
the
sector into an industry that will be competitive at the international
level, generating
significant revenues for its economy, attracting national and international sound investment and creating thousands
of jobs.
While the socio-economic analysis of such project shows easily the global added-value of such
project, its development is expected to face various challenges due to the implied business model
changes, the national capacity issues as well as structuring and organizational complexity.
2- PARTNERSHIP, STRUCTURE AND PROCESSES
The fishing industry is
considered by the government as
a priority sector. The development of Nouadhibou and in particular specific actions such as the development
of a
fishery cluster could be leveraged to achieve most objectives of the sector as well as optimal socio-economic development impact. The strategic objectives for
the
development of the fishery
sector in Nouadhibou are consistent with the national targets set
by
the government in
the national
fishery
strategy
and the strategic objectives of the free zone, including:
i)
Manage the resource sustainably,
ii)
ii) Create
growth and specially
inclusiveness of economic growth, and
iii)
iii) Develop the integration
of the fisheries sector in the national economy through domestication and local added- value projects.
Conscious of the strategic importance of the Competitive Cluster project and the challenges for its implementation, the Nouadhibou Free Zone Authority (ANZF) has put in place a partnership development strategy
that is based on 2 pillars:
PUBLIC PRIVATE DIALOGUE: The ANZF will have an open public-private dialogue on
project
development to i) ensure communication with all stakeholders, ii) create ownership and partnership with national private sector, active international operators and even civil society of the region, and iii) optimize the development
process through practical input and improvement
recommendations from public
and
private stakeholders.
INCLUSIVE ORGANIZATIONAL MODEL
FOR DEVELOPMENT: The ANZF has
set
up a steering committee for
the
Fishing
Competitive Cluster that includes
all key
sector stakeholders - the National Artisanal
Port, the Commercial Port PANA, the
ANZF, the private sector (fishing federation, logistics,
transit/FF…)
and
active Civil Society.
3- RESULTS SO FAR
The process has been just launched - the World Bank and the ANZF are working together to provide the needed technical assistance.
4- EXPECTED RESULTS
The Nouadhibou Free Zone intends on developing the
project through standard best practices using international project feasibility studies, adequate project structuring
processes for optimal socio-economic
impact and fully open public-private dialogue with national and international sector operators. The World Bank is mobilized to support
such process and provide technical advisory
to
ensure its completion in compliance with
best practices.
The objective of the steering committee for the Fishing Competitive Cluster is to pilot the development program and secure cross
the board leadership for quality
implementation and best governance mechanisms. The ANZF
will
ensure
that project is
studied through high level internationally recognized consulting firms; the execution of
the feasibility study
process as well
as
the
project structuring
model
shall be
fully
aligned with international best practices and national development strategies.
5- PRIVAT SECTOR GROWTH
COMPONENT
A new Project financed by the World Bank is under implementation. The project will focus
on the investment climate, infrastructures and capacity building. The
main infrastructures expected to be built will be through a public-private (local and foreign) partnership. The
ANZF
intends on developing domestication of fishing resources / land value adding in
Mauritania (Adding Value in
Nouadhibou to 1 million tons of product).
BIOGRAPHY OF AUTHOR:
Full
Name: Sid’Ahmed
Cheikhna Bouh,
Birth Date: 1972
Education: graduated from
the Ecole Nationale d’Administration de Tunis in Finance
Management. Work Experience:
- Economist at the World Bank resident mission (Mauritania): 2007-2011
- Executive Director of
BaCoMaB-
TF:
2011-2013
- Current
Position: Business Development
Managing Director at Nouadhibou Free
Zone
Authority from Nov 2013.
Presented
at the Public-Private Dialogue 2015 Workshop
(Copenhagen, March 10-13, 2015)
