Madar (Nouakchott) - Mauritania's National Assembly on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, approved in plenary a bill on a 50 million euro loan agreement with Spain's Official Credit Institute (ICO) to finance the Senegal River basin resilience and community development project, the Mauritanian News Agency reported.
The loan, signed on July 17, 2026, is repayable over 30 years including a five-year grace period, at an annual rate of 1.42%. The project aims to improve access to climate-resilient infrastructure and integrated services in targeted border areas. It was presented by Finance Minister Kodiyoro Moussa Nguenor; MPs praised the soft terms while calling for stronger monitoring.
During the debate, Sawab party MP Youssef Ould Abou Medine, who replaced Gamou Achour after her mandate was revoked by a court ruling, used his first speech to urge President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani to leave the people "an ending they will remember", the Al-Akhbar agency reported. Noting that the president has three years left in his final term and swore not to change the constitution, he said "Mauritania is not barren" and called for conditions allowing the people to freely choose their leader in 2029.
The MP also criticised the state of freedoms and services such as water, electricity, health and education, said parliamentary immunity "no longer helps lately" and called for better handling of debt and taxes. MP Habi Rabah had opposed new borrowing in her own first speech. There was no official response to his remarks at the time of publication.
