Mauritania Doubles Customs Fees on Moroccan Exports, Disrupting African Trade Route

It is difficult for Moroccan exporters to go through the El Guerguerat post to sell their goods on the African market. And for good reason, the Mauritanian government has increased customs duties for trucks. From now on, each truck will have to pay, upon entering Mauritanian territory, a customs tariff estimated at nearly 60,000 dirhams against 28,000 dirhams previously, an increase of around 171%. As a result, some Moroccan truckers are forced to return to Morocco.

The Mauritanian government has not, for the time being, justified this increase in customs duties. Is it linked to the free trade agreement that will be signed between Mauritania and Algeria? The Algerian President, Abdelmajid Tebboune, would have asked his government to draw up a study on the creation of a free trade area, reports Financialafrik. This measure would be taken to "encourage the national product," local media report, citing Mauritanian officials.

This sudden and unexpected increase could have a negative impact on trade between Morocco and African countries. A surge in vegetable prices would not be excluded a few months before Ramadan. In 2022, the sector experienced a significant increase of 39.9%, generating a total of 64.43 billion dirhams.