Business delegations from the Canary Islands and Mauritania formalise a pragmatic shift
Business delegations from the Canary archipelago and Mauritania formalised in Las Palmas a pragmatic turn in their bilateral relations. During the technical sessions held this Thursday at the Hotel Livvo Lumm, under the banner ‘Electricity for Industrialisation’, cross-border corporate diplomacy by companies such as Zamakona Yards and Maurilog moved beyond institutional rhetoric to establish an operational framework aimed at attracting private capital, developing critical infrastructure, and integrating supply chains between Gran Canaria’s ports and the West African market, backed by North African banking based in Mauritania.
Oneport drives the event with Mauritania Gateway and Proexca’s strategic support
The meeting was promoted by the port employers’ association Oneport, together with the specialised consultancy Mauritania Gateway, with Proexca providing strategic backing. It placed the macroeconomic transformation of Mauritania at the centre of the debate. The timing, coinciding with delegations from international financial institutions present in the African country, helped confirm the turn taken by the government of Nouakchott towards the Independent Power Producer (IPP) model. Under this scheme, the aim is to attract direct private investment to finance, build and operate generating plants, easing pressure on the state public debt and accelerating the energy transition.
An electricity infrastructure plan built on a co-investment model
The roadmap presented during the sessions looks at progress on three major energy infrastructures that the Mauritanian Ministry of Petroleum, Mines and Energy is rolling out. Among the strategic projects is a 220-megawatt hybrid power plant (solar and wind) south of Nouakchott, whose ground-breaking was carried out by President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani on 25 December 2025. Also highlighted is the 230-megawatt gas-fired plant supplied by the Grand Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) field in the N’diago region, alongside a third 300-megawatt installation linked to the Banda field gas pipeline.
The central goal of this investment package is to double the country’s electricity generation capacity and ensure power supply to the growing industrial zones. Société Mauritanienne d’Electricité (SOMELEC) outlined to the Canary business community its logistical and engineering requirements to modernise the distribution network, take forward industrial desalination projects, and support green hydrogen developments.
Port value chains and success stories along the Las Palmas–Nouakchott corridor
The working sessions examined success stories of cross-implementation between the two markets, highlighting the naval repair operations of the Zamakona Yards group, the high-voltage engineering firm Iprocel, and the logistics operator Maurilog. The companies validated how the operational facilities at Puerto de Las Palmas function as an advanced logistics base for importing heavy machinery, maintaining an offshore auxiliary fleet, and supplying industrial components to Mauritania.
The forum featured technical moderation by sector businesspeople and professionals such as José Mayor and Nayra Delgado, alongside the cyclical analysis provided by economic analyst Bernardo Sagastume. Throughout the agenda, it was stressed that the tax advantages of the Canary’s Economic and Tax Regime (REF), combined with regular maritime connections between the islands and the port facilities of Nouakchott and Nouadhibou, sharply reduce transaction costs for multinationals seeking to operate in the Sub-Saharan corridor.
Training, hydrogen and bilateral work agendas
Alongside strictly financial and regulatory aspects, the forum addressed developments in Mauritania’s banking system and the need for technical training for the local workforce. Specialised training in electromechanics, smart grid management and naval maintenance is positioned as one of the main routes for technology transfer from the Canary Islands to Mauritanian entities. The event’s practical value focused on the bilateral (B2B) meetings scheduled between SOMELEC purchasing officers, executives of leading African construction companies, and industrial services providers from the archipelago. The programme structure is designed so that negotiations result in the award of contracts for auxiliary services and regulatory consultancy in upcoming public tenders issued by Mauritanian authorities.
The entry Foro Oneport Mauritania Gateway en Las Palmas: Nuevos lazos financieros e industriales para liderar el mapa energético del flanco sur was first published on canarymaritime.com.
