Mali and Mauritania
What moves each way, the scams to watch for, and what to check before you trade.
Trade safely with Mauritania
The scams, documents and rules that matter on this corridor. Written and reviewed by our team, and dated.
Corridor-specific scam patterns and rules are still being reviewed by our team and will appear here once published.
- Confirm the company exists in an official register and that its name matches the one on the invoice.
- Before paying into a new or changed bank account, phone the company on a number you already hold, not one from the invoice or email.
- Test the container number, ship number, ports and dates on the bill of lading with the Document checker.
- Be wary of paying in advance for goods you have not seen, or of fees demanded to release a shipment.
- Ask the carrier directly to confirm the shipment exists and where it is.
In 2024, Mali sold Mauritania about $4.7 million of goods. The biggest products were malt extract, vegetables, fruit, nuts, fruit-peel and telephone sets, which together make up 49% of the total. The total has grown by about 1.1% a year since 2022. Among the leading products, vegetables, fruit, nuts, fruit-peel is growing fastest, at about 98% a year.
In 2024, Mali bought about $21.5 million of goods from Mauritania. The biggest products were fish, frozen, gypsum, anhydrite; plasters and cane or beet sugar and chemically pure sucrose, which together make up 76% of the total. The total has fallen by about 3.0% a year since 2022. Among the leading products, cane or beet sugar and chemically pure sucrose is growing fastest, at about 1,796% a year.
Trade by year
Total trade each year, as reported in the tables below. A missing bar means no report for that year, not zero trade.
View as a table
| Year | Mali sells to Mauritania | Mali buys from Mauritania |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | $4.6m | $22.9m |
| 2023 | $8.1m | $19.1m |
| 2024 | $4.7m | $21.5m |
What Mali sells to Mauritania
Ranked by value in 2024, by 4-digit product code. Growth is the yearly rate since 2022.
| Product | Value | Share | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Malt extract (flour/groats/meal/starch/malt extract products, no cocoa (or less than 40% by weight) and food p… Product code 1901 · Cereal and baked goods | $1.2m Mauritania reports none | 24.7% | +30.9% a year |
| Vegetables, fruit, nuts, fruit-peel and other parts of plants, preserved by sugar (drained, glace or crystalli… Product code 2006 · Fruit and vegetable preparations | $600k Mauritania reports none | 12.8% | +97.7% a year |
| Telephone sets, including smartphones and other telephones for cellular/wireless networks (other apparatus for… Product code 8517 · Electrical equipment | $537k | 11.4% | n/a |
Biggest product groups: Cereal and baked goods (25%), Electrical equipment (13%), Fruit and vegetable preparations (13%), Machinery (11%), Vegetables (11%) .
What Mali buys from Mauritania
Ranked by value in 2024, by 4-digit product code. Growth is the yearly rate since 2022.
| Product | Value | Share | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fish (frozen, excluding fish fillets and other fish meat of heading 0304) Product code 0303 · Fish and seafood | $9.7m | 45.1% | -16.4% a year |
| Gypsum (anhydrite, plasters (consisting of calcined gypsum or calcium sulphate), coloured or not, with or with… Product code 2520 · Salt, stone and cement | $4.3m Mauritania reports $801k | 20.2% | +23.0% a year |
| Cane or beet sugar and chemically pure sucrose, in solid form Product code 1701 · Sugar | $2.3m Mauritania reports none | 10.5% | +1,796.0% a year |
Biggest product groups: Fish and seafood (46%), Salt, stone and cement (24%), Sugar (10%), Vegetables (7%), Meat and fish preparations (3%) .
Where the opportunities are
Products that are moving on this corridor. Only products of a meaningful size are listed. Treat these as leads to check, not promises: a fast rise can reverse.
Room to grow
Products that a market buys a lot of, where this corridor supplies only a small part. Shares are for the latest year both sides reported. A small share can also mean a hard market, so check the rules and the buyer first.
A free account shows the complete product lists, every fast-growing and new product, and the markets where this corridor supplies little. Accounts are checked by hand, so use your business email.
Create a free account Sign inHow to read these figures
Value is what was traded in the year, in US dollars. A big number means a big market, not necessarily an easy one to enter.
Share is that product's part of the total in the table above. A product with a large share is what this corridor already trades most of.
Growth is the average yearly change since the first year shown. A green figure means trade in that product is rising.
Product code is the international customs code (HS) for the product group. Your customs agent and the guide below will ask for it, and it decides the duty you pay.
These are totals reported by customs authorities, not prices or orders. Use them to see where demand exists, then check the rules and the company you plan to deal with.
Next steps
Trade figures are what each country reported to the UN (Comtrade), in US dollars. Imports are usually reported including freight and insurance, exports without, so the two sides of a corridor will not match exactly. Company counts are companies listed on ExporterIQ.