Data-center law in Mauritania

National jurisdiction · as of 2026-09-05

Mauritania has no data-center-specific siting, permitting, or utility statute; a data-center project falls under the general investment framework of Loi n° 2012-052 portant Code des Investissements, and, if sited within the special economic zone at Nouadhibou, under the additional tax, customs, and land-management regime of Loi n° 2013-001 portant création de la zone franche de Nouadhibou.

Neither law names information technology or data infrastructure as a distinct priority sector; the investment code's privileged regimes turn on investment size and job creation, and the free zone law's incentives turn on location inside the zone's perimeter rather than on the activity's technology.

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Instruments on record

2 instruments on record, grouped by the family of approval each one governs.

Public agreements

What fiscal agreements attach a data center to its host jurisdiction?

Loi n° 2012-052, Code des Investissements

In force

Loi n° 2012-052 du 31 juillet 2012 portant Code des Investissements

Effective 2012-07-31 · Applies to private

The Investment Code sets Mauritania's general rules for national, foreign, and joint-venture enterprise investment, without naming information technology or data infrastructure as a distinct priority sector. Article 15 lets the Council of Ministers create a Special Economic Zone, either an export free zone or a Development Pole outside Nouakchott, by decree on the joint proposal of the ministers in charge of the economy, finance, land-use planning, and investment promotion.

Article 16 limits that privileged regime to investments of between 50 and 200 million ouguiya, generating at least 10 direct jobs, for enterprises subject to the actual-profit tax regime. Article 17 grants an enterprise under the separate SME regime a reduced import duty of 3.5% on capital equipment during a three-year installation phase, in place of ordinary customs duties and taxes, continuing into the operating phase for the same equipment and its recognisable spare parts.

Article 36 ties the law's execution to publication in the Official Gazette, immediately above the promulgation dateline of 31 July 2012.

Source: Full text of law

Loi n° 2013-001, zone franche de Nouadhibou

In force

Loi n° 2013-001 du 02 janvier 2013 portant création de la zone franche de Nouadhibou

Effective 2013-01-02 · Applies to private

The law creates a free zone in the wilaya of Dakhlet Nouadhibou as a priority economic development zone, inside which development zones may be created for industrial, commercial, service, port, or airport activities, and companies carrying on an eligible activity there may access the zone's special fiscal, social, and exchange-control regime and its one-stop administrative window.

Goods introduced into the free zone from abroad or from Mauritania's own customs territory are exempted from all import duties, fees, and levies, including value-added tax, subject to listed exceptions such as first-necessity products.

Management of the zone requires the Authority to establish an environmental management plan, based on an environmental impact study covering the whole free zone and accounting for a five-year development programme, that takes into account the rules applicable to any protected area located inside the zone's perimeter.

The law also provides for zone infrastructure covering electricity and water production and distribution networks, and for the Authority to ensure priority enterprises' access to utilities such as electricity, water, and roads on transparent, non-discriminatory terms. Article 54 ties the law's execution to urgent-procedure publication in the Official Gazette, immediately above the promulgation dateline of 2 January 2013.

Source: Full text of law

Every entry cites the instrument it describes. None of it is legal advice: verify a citation before relying on it. Full sourcing: read the methodology. The rest of the record: all jurisdictions.