Doha – Morocco gives a new border crossing with Mauritania in Amgala the finishing touch. The construction is now more than 95% completed.
This second land connection between the two countries is a strategic change in regional politics and trade routes throughout the Sahara.
The 93-kilometer road Infrastructure The combination of Smara with the Mauritan border by AMGALA and TIFIFIRITI cost 49.7 million (approx. 5 million US dollars).
The regional director Samih Zemmari confirms the project with four road sections, with the last 53-kilometer section of the National Road 17 at a price of 88% at a price of MAD 28.23 million.
The first three sections with a total of 40 kilometers were completed between 2017 and 2023 with investments of MAD 7 million (2017), MAD 9.54 million (2022) and MAD 4.92 million (2023). The final horizontal and vertical signage work is currently being completed in all sections.
A train station on the side of the road with 3,600 square meters will operate travelers to build 900,000. The station includes various facilities such as a mosque, functional living space, a café and sanitary facilities.
The governor of the province of Smara, Brahim Boutoumilate, has also launched a new first-class taxi service, which connects Smara and AMGALA via Agida region and improves mobility within the province.
Interior Minister Mohamed Ahmed was officially Mohamed al Amine on the Mauritan side defined Eight border crossings with Morocco in Deket number 00129 from February 11, which expanded significantly from the individual intersection in Guerguerate.
The new intersections include Tmeimichatt in the Chami district, al Kalb in Zouérat, three points in the Fderîck (Fderîck, Chegger and Touâjîl) district and two in a district of a Ben Tili (Aïn Ben Tili and Bir Moghrein).
For the separatist polisario front, which adheres to its unfounded claims about the rightful sovereignty in Western Sahara in Morocco, these developments mark another devastating blow -a de facto recognition from Morocco’s undisputed control over the territory.
The separatist group before attacked The buffer zone in Guerguerate in 2020, which leads to victims among your fighters after a Moroccan military reaction, mainly through drone attacks.
Morocco’s Atlantic corridor
The AMGALA crossing is part of King Mohammed VI’s “Atlantic Initiative” ,, designed provided to provide internal countries access to the Atlantic.
Fatima Saida, President of the AMGALA Commune, describes the project as a “logistical bridge” between Morocco, Mauritania and the broader African continent and “a cornerstone strategy to enable the inland on the ribbons, to enable access to the Atlantic through the southern provinces” .
Timing is meaningful, shortly after Mauritania has refused to join Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebbounes for an “Alternative Maghreb -Union” with the exception of Morocco.
The countries strengthen bilateral bonds, proven from Mauritan President Moulmed Ould Cheikh el Ghazouanis meet with King Mohammed VI in the Royal Palace in Casablanca on December 20, 2024.
During this meeting, both leaders confirmed their “determination of building strategic connection projects between neighboring countries” and coordinating their contributions to royal initiatives in Africa, in particular the African Atlantic gas pipeline and the facilitation of Saheländer’s access to the Atlantic.
On January 23, Morocco’s Minister for Energy Transition and Sustainable Development, Leila Benali, signed A Memorandum of Understanding with the Mauritanian Minister of Energy and Petroleum Moulmed Ould Khalid to develop partnership in electricity and renewable energies.
The was followed On February 4th by an agreement in Nouakchott between the general director of the National Office for Electricity and Drinking Water, Tarik Hamane, and the general director of the Mauretan Elektrizitätsgesellschaft, Sidi Salem Mohaned Elabd, to implement the electrical networking between the two countries.
The Mauritan National Assembly was one of the parliaments from 20 African countries that recently signed The “Rabat declaration”, which supports the start of the “Atlantic African States Process” and the Moroccan Atlantic Initiative.
The signatories emphasized: “The basic principles that regulate relationships between African countries, especially for state sovereignty, territorial integrity and the integrity of their areas as cornerstones of international relationships.”
Morocco has effectively expanded control over large parts of the area behind its defensive sand wall and restricted the presence of Polisario separatists mainly to Tindouf in Algeria.
The project will shorten the transport times and at the same time create economic possibilities for communities along the way, especially in Amgala and Tifariti.
This strategic corridor aims to increase regional trade, create jobs and improve stability in border communities and at the same time consolidate the position of Morocco as a goal between Europe and Africa south of the Sahara.
Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso and Chad have expressed this initiative for this initiative, which offers you potential new routes to global markets through the Atlantic access.
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