Madar (Nouakchott) - Finance Minister Codiourou Moussa Nguenor met on Thursday, 5 November 2026, in Nouakchott with Jean-Christophe Bonnois, director general of the Nouakchott coastal development company (SALN), to discuss the project to protect and develop the capital's coastline and efforts to complete the technical and procedural arrangements needed to launch the works, the Mauritanian News Agency (AMI) reported.
The meeting took place during a visit to Mauritania by a delegation from the Meridiam group. It also covered ways to strengthen coordination between the parties involved in implementing the project, which is of particular importance "given its role in protecting the capital's coastal strip and addressing environmental challenges", the agency said.
SALN was set up in September 2023 as a public-private company between the Mauritanian government and The Urban Resilience Fund (TURF), managed by Meridiam, with both sides investing equally. The project's cost was then estimated at about 60 million euros (2.4 billion ouguiyas), according to a statement by the French group.
According to the same statement, the project aims to protect Nouakchott against erosion and marine flooding. It includes reinforcing and planting the coastal dune belt, footpaths and cycle paths between the city and the beach, rainwater drainage along the coast, a bypass south of the city and the redevelopment of the Nouakchott fish market.
In July 2026, the National Assembly passed a new coastal protection law providing for a national environment and coastline observatory. The environment minister said at the time that the main challenges facing the coast included the effects of climate change and rising sea levels.
