On May 23, 2024, Prime Minister Mohamed Ould Bilal Messoud supervised the launch of the development of the National Land Use Plan in Mauritania at the Palais des Congrès in Nouakchott.
This plan, which is being developed for the first time in Mauritania, aims to strengthen national unity and citizenship, ensure equitable access to basic social services for all citizens, support and create regional development hubs, as well as establish a sustainable natural resource management system and strengthen resilience to the major current challenges.
At the national level, the Plan provides a reference framework for all land use policies, by defining strategic orientations and long-term objectives for the entire country, taking into account economic, social and environmental challenges, and ensuring coherence and integration between the different interventions in the field of land use planning.
It sets out guidelines for sectors such as agriculture, industry, tourism and infrastructure, enabling them to better coordinate investments and promote harmony between the different sectors.
The plan will mainly enable better access to basic services and quality infrastructure, improving the quality of life and well-being of the population, developing economic dynamism and creating job opportunities in promising sectors, by encouraging and developing activities in each region.
At the end of its three phases, the plan will achieve a sectoral and territorial result, including the collection of information, the identification of major trends in territorial planning, the proposal of possible and hoped-for future options, the development of plans, maps, territorial information systems and growth poles, and the ratification in this area of a binding law lasting at least 20 years, which may be amended if necessary.
In a speech delivered on this occasion, the Minister of Housing, Urban Planning and Regional Development, Mr. Sid Ahmed Ould Mohamed, stressed that this program is at the center of the main orientations of the “Taahoudatty” program of His Excellency the President of the Republic, Mr. Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, which makes it possible to achieve equity and eliminate imbalances by distributing development throughout the national territory, in particular towards those who have been marginalized for whatever reason and wherever. He indicated that the sector has succeeded in developing a national land use plan, since a contractual framework was signed between the Ministry of Housing, Urban Planning and Land Use Planning and the Ministry of National Defense to carry out this important work that involved the participation of all, managers of the different sectors, experts in the economic and social field, various other technical fields, and local elected officials, recalling in this context that several previous attempts were made to develop this plan, but had not been successful. The Minister expressed his wish to see this work completed in two years, as planned, and for the phenomenon of shanty towns to end, stressing that the plan constitutes a contribution to the realization of the commitments made by the President of the Republic, before setting out the principles that govern the distribution of infrastructure, major facilities and collective services of national dimension, and by defining the manner in which the policies of economic, cultural, social and sports development, education and training, environmental preservation, housing and improvement of living conditions, contribute to the development of the country's economy.
On the sidelines of the launch of the National Land Use Plan, national consultation sessions began, in particular on the context and the process of developing the Plan, its objectives, principles, expectations and challenges, implementation and monitoring mechanisms, reference guides developed for the plans, and the methodology adopted.
The launching ceremony took place in the presence of several members of the government, the first vice-president of the National Assembly, the governors of the country's wilayas, regional presidents, mayors of communes, the president of the National Union of Mauritanian Employers and several other senior state figures.