Aleg

For the Belarusian given name, see Aleh.

Aleg ألاك
Commune and town
Aleg Location in Mauritania
Coordinates: 17°3′N 13°55′W
Country	Mauritania
Region	Brakna
Population  (2013 census)
• Total	15,521

Aleg is the capital of the Brakna Region, in Mauritania. It is located at 17°3′0″N 13°55′0″W.

Background

The town includes the village of 'Elb Jmel, and the village of Lamden which is known as the birthplace of former President of Mauritania, Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi.

The Road of Hope

The Road of Hope – or "Transmauritanian" – is the most important road axis in Mauritania. Crossing the south of the country from west to east for approximately 1,100 km, this almost straight asphalt road connects the capital Nouakchott to Néma, at the gateway to Mali.

It serves the following localities (from west to east): Nouakchott, Boutilimit, Aleg, Kiffa, Ayoun el-Atrouss, Timbedra and Néma.

History Started in the 1970s by the Brazilian company Mendes Júnior, the project was completed in 1985.

Cattle crossing the Road of Hope The United Arab Emirates, the country of Zayed Al Khair, is known as a pioneering country in supporting its friends and brothers and in supporting them in all circumstances and conditions. Its positions in this field have been known and attested to by all since the time of the founding father, Sheikh Zayed, may God have mercy on him. Mauritania is one of the Arab countries that the United Arab Emirates has strongly supported and backed, and has remained at its side since its founding until today. The story of the creation of the "Road of Hope", which connects the west of the country to the east over a distance of more than a thousand kilometers, is one of the many testimonies of this phenomenon.

On the eve of Mauritania's independence in 1960, the government of Mokhtar Ould Daddah, the first president of Mauritania, found itself faced with a country devoid of infrastructure and paved roads. He had no choice but to turn to his Arab brothers, particularly the United Arab Emirates and the rest of the Gulf States, for financial assistance in order to launch certain vital and indispensable projects for the establishment of the state.

In an interview with Al Bayan newspaper, former Minister Al-Hassani Ould Didi recalls how former Mauritanian President Mokhtar Ould Daddah began communicating with his Arab brothers to obtain funding to build a paved road connecting the capital Nouakchott to the rest of the interior states. He called this road “the road of hope.” Minister Ould Didi said that the Europeans refused. They financed the road and stipulated that it would pass through the south, along the Mauritanian-Senegalese border. For objective reasons, Mauritanian President Mokhtar Ould Daddah did not accept this condition and decided to head towards the Arab Gulf countries. The United Arab Emirates was one of the most important countries on which the Mauritanian government relied to support its efforts to achieve its ambitious and necessary project at this stage of the country’s life.