Mauritania receives $275 million for railway development

The African Development Bank and the European Investment Bank signed a $275 million financing package to help Mauritania modernize its main railway line. The two banks said in a statement that the agreement stipulates that the African Development Bank will contribute $150 million and the European Investment Bank $125 million to modernize the railway line linking the iron ore mines in Zouerate, northeast Mauritania, to the Atlantic port of Nouadhibou. The statement added that the signing of the agreement, which is guaranteed by the European Union, took place on the sidelines of the African Investment Forum in the Moroccan capital, Rabat. The statement indicated that the funding will enable Mauritania's National Industrial and Mining Company (SNIM) to rehabilitate the existing railway line and construct a new 42-kilometer track to connect future mining sites in El Aouj and Atoumay. It added that the funding will also allow the company to acquire locomotives, rolling stock, and maintenance equipment.