During a roundtable meeting in Mauritania, EU President Ursula von der Leyen highlighted the collaborative efforts to establish a green hydrogen ecosystem, emphasizing the alignment of Mauritania’s national energy transition strategy with the European Green Deal. Von der Leyen’s visit, aimed at fostering talks on renewable hydrogen, underscored the mutual ambition to transform Mauritania’s abundant natural resources into a sustainable energy and economic powerhouse.
With the European Union setting ambitious targets for green hydrogen production and importation by 2030, von der Leyen pointed out Mauritania’s unique position to contribute significantly to this goal, thanks to its vast renewable energy potential and status as Africa’s second-largest iron producer. The transformation of raw ore into green steel within Mauritania could not only retain added value locally but also open lucrative export avenues to the European market.
von der Leyen: “Mauritania is blessed with resources, that is space, sun and wind. With the right investment and infrastructure, this country can harness over 350 gigawatts of renewable energy only from wind and sun. But that is not all. Mauritania is also Africa’s second largest iron producer. The majority of your iron is exported as raw ore. But if we have clean energy coming into the game, the processing into green steel could stay here in Mauritania. And that is a huge step because this is the added value. This is where the jobs are. This is where the prosperity is. In fact, you could export iron and premium green steel. The technology works but, as I said, the production of green steel needs an essential input and that is green hydrogen. And that is why hydrogen is so important for Mauritania but also for Europe, so we share the interests. It would be a source of revenue domestically and an export product, for example to the European Union.”
The EU’s Global Gateway investment plan, as von der Leyen noted, is set to mobilize up to EUR 300 billion worldwide, with Mauritania poised to benefit from investments in renewable energy infrastructure, green steel production, and workforce training. The EU, along with Team Europe partners, is committed to supporting Mauritania’s journey towards becoming a key player in the green hydrogen and steel sectors, promising a future of shared prosperity and sustainability.
“Our Team Europe initiative – that is Spain, France, Germany, the European Union and the European Investment Bank – we are all here to support. I would like to thank you all. I would want to thank very much the European companies that are present here and represented by Hydrogen Europe – we know each other very well. Europe is stepping in with Global Gateway. And we are in it for the long term, that is important. Because demand for Mauritania’s green hydrogen and potentially green steel will set to grow exponentially in the European Single Market. We already know the demands that are out there, so if you step into that business field, we know that this is an excellent business case.”
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