A framework agreement signed in Rabat provides for the rehabilitation, enlargement and maintenance of the road from Nouakchott to Nouadhibou via the PK55. This route is 480 km long and constitutes an important road link for trade between Mauritania, Morocco and beyond the West African markets.

Morocco and Mauritania signed on 21 September in Rabat a framework convention on the development, improvement, rehabilitation and maintenance of the road from Nouakchott to Nouadhibou, via mileage 55 (PK55).

It is 480 kilometres long and corresponds to the National Road No. 4 on the Mauritanian side and ensures continuity between the road networks of the two countries. In particular, the project aims to improve transport conditions and facilitate the movement of goods between the two territories.

The Convention provides for cooperation between the administrations of the two countries in technical studies, project monitoring and infrastructure maintenance. A joint study office should be set up in Mauritania to support the implementation of the project.

The Moroccan and Mauritanian authorities also provide for exchanges of expertise and expertise in the road sector. Particular attention is paid to the sustainability of the road, in particular to the effects of climate conditions on infrastructure.

This axis links Nouakchott, the political capital, to Nouadhibou, the main economic and port centre of Mauritania, before reaching the border post of the PK55, opposite El Guerguerat.

It is borrowed by vehicles carrying goods between Mauritania and Morocco and also constitutes a land crossing to Senegal and other West African markets.

The modernisation of these 480 kilometres must thus respond to the evolution of transport flows and the needs of operators operating on this route.

The Convention is also part of a series of road investments which concern both ends of this axis. In Morocco, the Tiznit-Dakhla expressway must improve the road service to El Guerguerat.

In the south, Mauritanian road links allow for the continuity of flows to Senegal, notably through the Nouakchott-Rosso-Dakar corridor.

The improvement of the Nouakchott-Nouadhibou link is therefore an additional link in the road continuity between Morocco and West Africa.