5th WestMED National Event of Mauritania: Towards a national strategy for the blue economy
As part of the WestMED initiative, the WestMED National Hub Mauritania, in close coordination with the Ministry of Fisheries, Maritime and Port Infrastructures, the Mauritanian Maritime Cluster and the CALLMEBLUE Project, organised the 5th national event for the promotion of the blue economy in Mauritania on Monday 20 and Tuesday 21 January at the Nouakchott Hotel.
This important event was chaired by Mr El Vadil Sidaty, Minister of Fisheries, Maritime and Port Infrastructures, and attended by Mr Sidi Ali Sidi Boubacar, Secretary General of the MPIMP, Mr Hamadi Baba Hamadi, President of the Mauritanian Maritime Cluster, Mr Ezzedine Kacem, President of the Tunisian Maritime Cluster and Mr Matteo Bocci, Representative of the WestMED Initiative.
The event was organised in hybrid mode and attracted a high level of participation with a total of 92 participants.
Next to WestMED’s Mauritanian national hub and the Mauritanian Maritime Cluster, representatives from the main national institutions, the private sector, socio-professional organisations, civil society, national scientific research institutions, former fisheries ministers, the Tunisian Maritime Cluster, the northern Mediterranean clusters, members of the Alliance of Mediterranean Maritime Clusters, the CALLMEBLUE project team and the Technical and Financial Partners (EU, GIZ and Japanese Cooperation) were amongst the participants.
Objectives
The specific objectives of this 5th national event were to present the WestMed Initiative and its Technical Assistance Mechanism, the progress made especially in terms of identification and support for Blue Economy projects; present the status of progress in the creation of the Mauritanian Maritime Cluster and the main projects being carried out under the WestMED initiative (with a focus on CallMeBLUE), support cooperation and dialogue between the actors of the Mauritanian Blue Economy and other experts from the north and south of the Mediterranean, identify ideas for national and regional projects in order to define the broad lines of the national strategy of Blue Economy.
Opening
In his opening speech, the Minister pointed out that the promotion of the blue economy is one of the priorities of the President of the Republic, Mr Mohamed Ould Cheikh Al Ghazwani, who has launched an initiative along these lines, which has been officially adopted by the member countries of the Arab League. He also emphasised the MPIMP’s (Ministère de la Pêche et des Infrastructures Maritimes et Portuaires) commitment to drawing up a strategy in the very near future.
After the official opening session, the participants followed presentations by eminent national researchers on the diagnosis of the main sectors of the blue economy in Mauritania (fishing, aquaculture, tourism, MSP), in addition to a presentation of the WestMED initiative, its priorities and current projects, by Mr Matteo Bocci. Following these presentations, a rich debate was opened between the participants.
CallmeBLUE workshop
The Andalusian Maritime and Marine Cluster (CMMA) also organised a workshop dedicated to the the CallmeBLUE project titled ‘Exploring the future of maritime clusters: cooperation and regional potential.’
After an introduction by WestMED’s central team member Matteo Bocci, the Director of International Projects of CMMA, Elizabeth Chapman, took the floor and explained the objectives of CallmeBLUE. This was followed by the Project Manager of the BIG (Blue Italian Growth) Cluster, Sara Tedesco. She focused on analysing the different cluster initiatives, the most promising blue sectors, the main challenges, obstacles and actions to promote existing initiatives, boost business opportunities and activities for the exchange of ideas and knowledge.
After these introductions 2 expert panels followed. Panel I (Exploring the future of maritime clusters: Cooperation and regional potential), consisted of the president of the Mauritanian Maritime Cluster, Hamadi Baba Hamadi, the president of the Tunisian Maritime Cluster, Captain Ezzedine Kacem, the president of CMMA, Javier Noriega and, finally, Sara Tedesco as representative of the BIG (Blue Italian Growth) Cluster. Each of these panellists presented their cluster, reviewing the services they offer and the projects they have in their portfolio, as well as sharing their best practices and alliances, emphasising the fundamental role they play in the advancement of the Blue Economy.
In the second panel (Boosting blue sectors with potential through collaboration), the Blue Project Manager of Forum Ocean, Lorella Ciuti, the general delegate of ANIMA, Emmanuel Noutary, and the director of the Europe Service of Pôle Mer Méditerranée, Colin Ruel, took the floor to explore the concrete paths of cooperation between European and African clusters, promoting a sustainable and equitable Blue Economy in Mauritania and in the Mediterranean.
Day 2
On the second day of the event, participants were divided into four technical groups: i) Fisheries and Aquaculture, ii) Green Hydrogen, Renewable Energies and Desalination, iii) Sustainable Tourism and MSP and iv) Maritime Transport, Ports and Shipbuilding. The technical groups worked for a day on analysing the challenges and opportunities of the main sectors of the blue economy in Mauritania and identifying ideas for national and regional projects and the broad outlines of the future national strategy for promoting the blue economy in Mauritania.
The 2nd day was also marked by the signing of a cooperation agreement between the Tunisian and Mauritanian clusters in the context of CallMeBlue and the WestMED Clusters Alliance.
Media coverage
The meeting received extensive media coverage, with all the official national press (Agence Mauritanienne d’Information, Télévision Nationale Al Mauritaniya, Radio de Mauritanie), private television channels and Internet press platforms present. The event was featured as one of the main news items on the official and private channels in French, Arabic and the national languages, broadcast on the evening of 20/01/2025. Extracts from the discussions were also broadcast live on Facebook.
About CallMeBlue
The CallmeBLUE-Cluster ALLiance MEd BLUE project is a regional initiative co-funded by the European Union, dedicated to strengthen existing cluster alliances in the Mediterranean area and to accelerate regional North-South cooperation towards the emergence of strategic maritime clusters. Focused on innovation, collaboration and sustainable development, CallmeBLUE aims to drive positive change in the blue economy landscape.
CallmeBLUE started on 1 October 2023 and will end on 30 September 2025. The consortium partners represent a diverse coalition of organisations from Italy (Formare; Federazione del Mare, and Technology Cluster Blue Italian Growth); Portugal (Fórum Oceano); Spain (Andalusia Maritime-Maritime Cluster); Algeria (Leanovator); Tunisia (Cluster Maritime Tunisien); Greece (Strategis-Maritime Center of Excellence); and France (Pôle Mer Méditerranée, and ANIMA).
