By Alpha Seydi BA, Senior Expert in Strategic Communication and Public Relations.
The debate on local content in Mauritania is now part of a strategic transformation context where political will is demonstrated through the adoption of new legal and institutional instruments. The recent promulgation of Law No. 2024-045 and its implementing decree marks an undeniable turning point in the management of the country’s extractive and energy industries.
The fundamental objective of this reform is to align the exploitation of natural resources with a logic of creating shared value, where the population, businesses, and local industrial fabric become the primary beneficiaries, breaking away from traditional extractive models often associated with low wealth redistribution at the national level.
This new regulation aims to structure the involvement of local actors at all levels of the value chain, whether it be in terms of employment, subcontracting, technological training, or industrial development. The creation of the National Local Content Council, supported by a specialized unit within the relevant ministry, sets a strategic direction for all stakeholders. The Council is responsible for developing the national policy and strategy, mobilizing resources and expertise to ensure the economic anchoring of the mining, oil, gas, and energy sectors. Operators and their subcontractors must now submit three-year prospective plans and annual reports detailing their national employment policy and integration of local suppliers. Innovation also lies in the digitization of monitoring: a dedicated digital platform will host the plans, track performance, and centralize data on employment and subcontracting, allowing for increased traceability and transparency in evaluating progress made.
The stakes for Mauritania go beyond simply creating local jobs. It is about sustainably stimulating the development of national skills through vocational training, knowledge transfer, and the progressive “nationalization” of managerial positions. The regulation in place prioritizes local labor in recruitment and grants a competitive advantage to Mauritanian companies for the provision of goods and services. To encourage operators to meet their commitments, incentive measures will be established, while financial and administrative penalties are envisaged in case of non-compliance.
This local content model is not an isolated innovation in Africa: Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, and Angola have already experimented with proactive strategies with varying degrees of success but common points. In Nigeria, for example, the local content law imposed quotas for local supply and rigorous institutional monitoring, leading to a real strengthening of national SMEs and a progressive integration of the supply chain. In Ghana, the combination of quotas and active support for technical training has resulted in the structuring of a whole sector of SMEs specializing in oil and mining services. Angola has focused on a combination of incentive mechanisms and quotas while promoting the financing of SMEs through the creation of specific funds, and Senegal now collaborates closely with Mauritania on the GTA gas project to share best practices and accelerate regional industrial integration.
Global references such as Brazil and Norway show that the success of local content policies relies on a gradual adjustment of regulatory objectives to the economic reality, combined with massive efforts in training and technology transfer. Brazil has developed a flexible policy, combining temporary quotas, incentives, and enhanced support for SMEs, with visible results in terms of industrial development. Norway, on the other hand, has built a strong oil sector through strategic partnership management, the requirement for skills transfer, and the continuous increase of national capacities.
To fully leverage the Mauritanian reform, a winning strategy should focus on a pragmatic and evolving approach: aligning local content objectives with the actual capacities of the industrial fabric while planning their enhancement through structured training programs and targeted innovation policies. Supporting SMEs should involve facilitating access to credit, accelerating administrative procedures, providing appropriate tax incentives, and disseminating best practices in project management and governance. Monitoring these dynamics should be supported by a complete digitization of the monitoring process, ensuring transparency, traceability, and accountability of the parties involved.
The strengthening of human capital, an essential pillar of local content, requires strong partnerships between the state, training centers, universities, and private operators to truly meet the needs of major industrial projects. It is also important to promote co-investments, encourage joint ventures, and multiply synergies with regional and international actors to give the Mauritanian economy the means to compete. Finally, social responsibility and inclusion must be integrated at every stage to ensure that industrial development brings tangible benefits to communities and increased environmental protection.
In conclusion, a winning strategy for Mauritania requires collective mobilization, transparent governance, and constant adaptation of tools to the reality on the ground. If followed rigorously and ambitiously, this local content policy will make the exploitation of natural resources a powerful lever for economic, industrial, and social transformation for the country, while credibly aligning it with the best African and international practices in the field.
