The World Bank has given Mauritania 30 million US dollars for the extension of the sub- marine cable communication project, an official source has said.

The work of laying the cable had ended last year and it was part of the larger regional telecommunication project to connect the entire West African region with the fibre optic cable.

A funding agreement was signed on Friday in Nouakchott between Mauritania's Economic Affairs Minister Sidi Ould Tah and Madam Vera Songwe, the World Bank's director of operations in Mauritania.

The Mauritanian minister said the cable project will help establish a national fibre optic network that will link provincial capitals and other major towns.

"This will significantly improve communication and information sharing within the country and consequently limit the cost," he concluded.