By Ayomide Otitoju
Mauritania has signed its first independent power producer (IPP) agreement, a $300 million deal with Iwa Green Energy to develop a 60-megawatt hybrid solar and wind power plant.
The project, scheduled to come online in September 2026, is expected to boost the country’s installed capacity of about 450 megawatts while advancing its transition to renewable energy. It represents a milestone in Mauritania’s strategy to attract private investment into the power sector.
“This project with private actors demonstrates their confidence in the Mauritanian government’s commitment to diversifying the production base and providing sustainable energy sources to serve the economy,” Economy and Finance Minister Sid’Ahmed Ould Bouh said at the signing ceremony in Nouakchott.
Mauritania, where less than 10 percent of rural households are connected to the grid, remains heavily dependent on imported fuels despite vast solar and wind potential. Under President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani’s energy transition plan, the government aims to achieve universal electricity access and generate 70 percent of its power from renewables by 2030.
The deal is one of the first projects implemented under the Desert to Power initiative’s Independent Power Producer Joint Protocol, a framework led by the African Development Bank (AfDB) to standardize investment terms and attract private capital across 11 Sahel countries.
Energy Minister Mohamed Ould Khaled emphasized that the project’s fully private financing model would expand energy supply without adding to public debt.
Daniel Schroth, AfDB’s Director of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, praised Mauritania’s adoption of the Desert to Power framework, calling it “an important step” toward accelerating renewable energy development in the Sahel. He added that the project would contribute to both the initiative’s objectives and Mauritania’s Mission 300 Energy Compact.
