By Dia El Hadj Ibrahima
One billion Canadian dollars in trade, ranking as the fifth largest trading partner of Canada in Africa, but a relationship still largely dominated by a single raw material: gold. This imbalance is what the newly launched Mauritania Canada Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CMCCI), officially launched in September 2026 in Montreal, aims to correct by focusing on the Mauritanian diaspora.
According to Canadian government data, merchandise trade between Mauritania and Canada reached 1.04 billion Canadian dollars in 2024. However, this volume masks a strong concentration: Canadian imports from Mauritania, valued at nearly one billion dollars, consist of 99.9% raw or semi-manufactured gold.
In contrast, Canadian exports to Mauritania remain limited to 38.6 million Canadian dollars. The Canadian economic presence in the country also remains limited, with around twenty companies operating mainly in the mining sector. Nevertheless, Canada is among the top foreign investors in Mauritania, with assets estimated at 3 billion Canadian dollars in 2023.
The diaspora as an economic interface
Facing this situation, the CMCCI, led by Fatimata A. Lam, aims to make the Mauritanian diaspora established in Canada a full-fledged economic actor.
According to estimates from the Mauritanian Embassy in Ottawa, this community consists of over 4,000 individuals. Entrepreneurs, executives, professionals, experts, and young graduates make up a network that, according to the Chamber, can facilitate connections between the two markets.
“We want to change the way the diaspora is integrated into the economic relationship between our two countries. It can become a real economic bridge: a network of skills, market knowledge, relationships, and initiative capacity,” explains Fatimata A. Lam, founding president of the CMCCI.
The Chamber plans to conduct an economic mapping of this diaspora to identify professional profiles, companies, available expertise, and investment opportunities. It also intends to contribute to the upcoming forum dedicated to the diaspora that the Mauritanian authorities plan to organize in October in Nouakchott.
Four priority sectors
This initiative comes at a time of transformation in the Mauritanian economy. After a growth estimated at 6.3% in 2024 and 4.2% in 2025, the World Bank forecasts a growth of 4.4% in 2026, driven in particular by the country’s gradual entry into the gas era, in addition to its mining resources.
In its 2026-2030 Partnership Framework, the World Bank also identifies economic diversification and private sector development as major focus areas for Mauritania.
In this context, the CMCCI has identified four priority areas: fishing and the fisheries economy, energy, information technology, as well as mines and their value chains.
“The goal is not to expand into multiple areas, but to focus the Chamber’s resources on sectors where concrete complementarities can be developed,” emphasizes Fatimata A. Lam.
A chamber evaluated on its results
With a strong institutional anchor marked by the acceptance of the Mauritanian Ambassador to Canada to serve as honorary president, the CMCCI has operational ambition: to measure its impact through tangible results.
Number of companies connected, value of facilitated opportunities, partnerships concluded: the Chamber intends to track specific indicators to demonstrate its usefulness.
“A chamber of commerce should be able to demonstrate its value by what it facilitates and contributes to achieving,” emphasizes its president.
The challenge now is to evolve an economic relationship currently focused on gold towards a more diversified partnership, involving investment, innovation, trade, and mobilization of the skills of the Mauritanian diaspora in Canada.
