Digital transformation is in full swing across the continent. Building digital infrastructure is essential to achieving all the objectives previously set out in various strategic documents.
Mohamed Abdallahi Ould Louly, the Mauritanian Minister of Digital Transformation, Innovation, and Administrative Modernization, announced that his department plans to install 2,300 kilometers of fiber optic cable across the country. This announcement was made on the sidelines of the launch of a fiber optic training program on Monday, June 10. The program aims to connect all wilayas and moughatas (administrative divisions) to fiber optic networks.
This initiative is part of the Mauritanian government’s 2022-2025 Digital Agenda, which aims to make digital technology a real lever for accelerating the country’s socio-economic development. In May 2021, the government established a specialized ministry responsible for overseeing all projects related to this vision. Improving digital infrastructure is a key part of this, and since then, the country has already installed over 5,500 kilometers of fiber optic cable.
In addition to political will, this progress has been achieved through the signing of various partnerships. Among others, several partnerships have been signed with the United Arab Emirates and France, as well as plans to strengthen cooperation in the digital sector with the United Nations. In this context, the Mauritanian minister met on April 2 in Nouakchott with Leila Peters Yahya, the UN Resident Coordinator in Mauritania.
It is worth recalling that in its 2022-2025 Digital Agenda, Mauritania planned to lay 4,000 kilometers of backbone fiber by 2025 and has planned the installation of an additional 4,000 kilometers in the coming years. The goal is to enhance Internet connectivity and access to international bandwidth, which are prerequisites for the development of e-government, the proliferation of startups, and the emergence of a technological ecosystem in the country.