The European Investment Bank (EIB), which granted a loan to the National Industrial Mining Company (SNIM) for the dredging project of its ore port located in Nouadhibou, the economic capital of Mauritania, does not rule out the possibility of postpone a disbursement at a later date.

In a correspondence of which our Mauritanian colleague mourrasiloum.com received a copy, the EIB wrote to the address of SNIM: “we have identified an article (published on Financial Afrik) reporting the placement of Moktar Djay under judicial control. Could you provide us with more information about this news? Pending clarification, the disbursement may be postponed to a later date”.

The ore port dredging project is one of SNIM's two flagship projects, the other being the project to rehabilitate and modernize the main plant of the mining company, in this case the so-called Guelb 1 plant. With a total amount of $109 million, it is financed by the EIB and the AfDB to the tune of $59 million and $50 million respectively.

The so-called strategic project aims to strengthen the capacity of the SNIM port, whose draft does not currently allow it to accommodate boats of more than 150,000 tonnes. The project is not yet awarded.

As a reminder, Moktar Ould Djay, current Managing Director (ADG) of SNIM, was placed under judicial supervision as part of the investigation into economic and financial crimes perpetrated under the reign of Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, of whom he was Minister of Economy and Finance.