AbstractA road is to be built between Nouakchott and Nouadhibou before 2007, to complete the Trans-Saharan axis linking Morocco, Mauritania and Senegal. As a consequence of strengthening the nation’s two major economic poles, this road might further increase a geographical imbalance inside Mauritania. It shall develop too a new regional configuration, Rabat being so induced to put on the forefront of its African policy the political relationship with Nouakchot and Dakar.