As a major natural gas development project gets underway on its border with Senegal, Mauritania wants to prepare the local workforce to benefit from the jobs that are generated. Like its neighbor a few years ago, it intends to open a specialized school.
Mauritania has taken steps to establish a technical and vocational school for mining, oil and gas in Nouakchott. The Mauritanian Ministry of Housing, Urban Planning and Land Management, which is in charge of implementing this project, has obtained funds to finance the construction of the school as part of its budget execution. To this end, it has launched an international call for tenders.
"The Ministry of Housing, Urban and Regional Planning invites sealed bids from eligible and suitably qualified candidates for the construction of the Nouakchott School of Technical Education and Vocational Training in Mining, Oil and Gas."announced the note of the department.
The draft decree establishing the school was approved by the Council of Ministers on September 8. At that time, the Council stated that "the establishment of this school aims to diversify the training offer, introducing new courses in the mining, oil and gas sectors, increasing the capacity of the training system, training and integrating the national workforce and attracting investment in these vital areas."
The single-lot tender, launched on Wednesday, January 4, remains open until February 20, 2023. Upon designation, the bidding company will have 18 months to complete the work.
Graduates of this school will be integrated into the mining and gas projects underway in the country, the main one being the extraction of natural gas from the joint field between Mauritania and Senegal led by the American company Kosmos and British Petroleum.
It should be noted that Senegal, the other country involved in this project, has begun construction work on its school to prepare the workforce for this project since 2020. The Senegalese government, in partnership with the ADB, had released an envelope of 2.5 billion FCFA (4 million USD) for the school located in the Bango area, in Saint-Louis.
Vanessa Ngono Atangana