On the bridge, Captain Mohamed Ould Kotob guides the vessel into Nouadhibou’s mineral port, a routine task today but one that would have been impossible a few years ago.
Before the port expansion, depth restrictions forced ships to limit cargo. Manoeuvring a fully loaded ore carrier into the harbour was beyond reach. “It was impossible to bring in something this large,” says Ould Kotob, who has worked for the state‑owned Société Nationale Industrielle et Minière (SNIM) for three decades.
A transformation has since unfolded. A 25‑kilometre channel has been dredged deeper, allowing vessels to load up to 230 000 tonnes of ore, significantly boosting Mauritania’s export capacity. For SNIM, the port is only one point along a supply chain that stretches 700 kilometres inland to the Sahara, where iron ore is mined and loaded onto some of the world’s longest trains.
“I drive one of the longest trains in the world,” says locomotive operator Mohamed Takyoullah. “In a way, I drive the engine of Mauritania’s economy.” Once plagued by failing locomotives and delays, the railway has been overhauled with modern engines that haul heavier loads more reliably.
SNIM’s evolution began in the 1990s, when its main deposit at Tazadit neared depletion, and the company faced an uncertain future. “We had to rethink everything,” recalls production engineer Cheikh Melanine.
Investment across extraction, processing and transport followed. Output, once around 10 million tonnes annually, is now targeted to reach 45 million tonnes. Ore quality has more than doubled, rising from 30% iron content to 66% after processing.
Support from SNIM’s shareholders and development partners, including the African Development Bank Group, which has mobilised $500 million since 1978, has underpinned this long‑term effort.
The company is also shifting its energy base. It has installed 19 megawatts of solar and wind capacity, and a Nouadhibou wind farm now supplies almost 30% of the port’s electricity. “This avoids about 12 000 tonnes of CO₂ emissions annually,” says environmental engineer Houley N’Dongo.
–AfDB/ChannelAfrica–
