Plan B Group visit Mauritania as a member of an institutional and trade mission led by the President of the Government of the Canary Islands

Plan B Group continues its internationalization process with a second visit to Mauritania, a country in which the organization is currently undertaking an implementation project of Food Safety under the criteria of the IFS standard.

This time, Alberto J. Santana, CEO of Plan B Group traveled to Mauritania as a member of an institutional and trade mission led by the President of the Canarian Government, Paulino Rivero, along with several members of his Cabinet, representatives of Councils and presidents of the Chambers of Commerce of the Canary Islands in a business travel that took place between 6th and 8th of May 2014.

Mauritania in the world

The Islamic Republic of Mauritania is a country in northwest Africa with an area of ​​over 1,000,000 square kilometers with boundaries among Senegal, Mali, Algeria and Western Sahara. Its estimated population is around 3,350,000 inhabitants and is ranked 145th in the world in terms of GDP. Despite its low population density, Mauritania has a low Human Development Index (HDI), but in recent years the country has been the focus of intensive flow of foreign investment, mainly from China and the Canary Islands.

Mauritania has over 700 kilometers of Atlantic coastline with large fishing wealth, iron and gold mines and agriculture activity located in certain areas. This variety of resources has enabled the country to improve their infrastructure in recent years and today is under a process of international development headlined by its fishing and commercial activity, as well as certain areas of the services sector.

The people of Mauritania are very hospitable, open to welcome visitors to their country and satisfied with their lifestyle, characterized by being able to adapt to different economic situations with the available resources. The below gallery shows some pictures of the country.

The visit of the institutional and trade mission of Canarias in Mauritania

This mission of canarian businesses alongside the Government of the Canary Islands, local Councils and Chambers of Commerce has aimed an initial touch between the Mauritanian and Canarian Governemts, as well as the improvement in the institutional relations of some of the most important organizations in the archipelago with business interests in the country. Therefore, there were set up an intensive two-day agenda of bilateral meetings in the cities of Nouakchott and Nouadhibou with top policy-makers and business representatives from Mauritania, as well as visits to some of the most relevant institutions and infrastructure facilities of economic interest of the country.

The Canarian trade mission was received by an audience from the Mauritanian President Mr. Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, along with other government representatives,  who communicated to the Canarian President, Mr. Paulino Rivero, their interest for a major presence of Canarian businesses in Mauritania as a key to economic development of the country and their satisfaction of the work done so far by Canarian businesses already installed in the country.

Another remarkable meeting of this business agenda was the encounter with representatives of the Canarian Government and some relevant Canarian companies, including Plan B Group which was represented by its Managing Director, Alberto J. Santana, and some representatives from the Mauritanian Trade Union. A high-level in the business meeting in which local representatives of Mauritanian companies requested not only a necessity to improve the competitiveness, but also foreign investment where the Canary Islands has important advantages.

In the previous picture, some Canarian executives are paying attention to the presentation of representatives of Mauritanian employers. In the following video, few of the moments during the meeting in which the Canarian delegation is sharing some impressions and interests with the Mauritanian entrepreneurial sector.

The great Mauritanian hospitality was patent at all times with an excellent level of courtesy and a wide offer of amenities, such as the dinner offered to all the Canarian delegation with typical national dishes.

The travel between Nouakchott and Nouadhibou was made on a charter flight operated by Binter Canarias which transferred the trade mission to the economic centre of the country, visiting the main infrastructure facilities developed in recent years, highlighting the construction of the fishing dock and shipyard, as well as the rail transport that connects to the Mauritanian mines.

Similarly, there was made a visit to the Franc Zone of Nouadhibou in which the entrepreneurship has been reflected by the Mauritanian Institutions providing a commercial space with fiscal incentives and low taxation to commerce or service provision in terms of business creation and registration in just 5 days.

Mauritania and Plan B Group

Mauritania is a country that represents significant opportunities for the internationalization of Plan B Group. Prior to this visit, there were reflected important potential clients for the implementation of management systems, in which the firm is currently undertaking a Food Safety project through the implementation of the IFS Standard.

Following this visit, the company has been able to recognize the Mauritanian society and their public institutions, and has generated important leads to introduce itself in the country with major intensity. Therefore, Plan B Group is already putting all its efforts by offering related services of Consultancy, Learning and Innovation in Mauritania, where it is scheduled its future presence in a mid-term basis in order to provide some specific business solutions into the country, focused on competitiveness improvement.

On the other hand, this business trip has enabled the firm to meet the other Canarian companies represented by Senior Executives which are already installed in Africa, setting a proactive and open relationship in order to generate synergies jointly and strengthened by a major international presence. In the below video, a meeting held by Mr. Paulino Rivero, President of the Government of the Canary Islands with executives that attended the trade mission of Canarias in Mauritania and the Ambassador of the Spanish Embassy in Mauritania.

Mauritania is a main gateway for the introduction of Plan B Group in Africa, not only for the commercial opportunities, fiscal advantages of legal security, but also because of its political class and population, always hospitable and quite keen to give any kind of assistance to foreigners.

In the header image, Alberto J. Santana, Managing Director of Plan B Group accompanied by Naha Mint Hamdi Ould Mouknass, Minister of Trade, Industry and Tourism of Mauritania.