Mauritania, one of the least-known of the 22 members of the Arab League, got some long-awaited recognition this week when the National US-Arab Chamber of Commerce (NUSACC) named Mauritania’s top envoy to the United States, Cissé Mint Cheikh Ould Boide, as its 2025 Ambassador of the Year.

The invitation-only award ceremony will take place in December at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Washington. The award, begun in 2004, is given annually to a DC-based Arab diplomat for outstanding contributions to US-Arab commercial relations.

“Ambassador Boide has been remarkably effective in raising awareness about Mauritania and in building coalitions to support Mauritania-US relations,” said NUSACC’s president and CEO, David Hamod. “She has found innovative ways to keep her nation front and center in discussions about security in North Africa. And now that natural gas has started to flow in Mauritania, she is playing an instrumental role in creating partnerships with the United States across multiple sectors.”

Boide, 54, said she was “deeply honored” to receive the award.

“This recognition is especially meaningful because NUSACC stands for unity, empowerment and partnership—values that I hold close to my heart,” she said. “Being an ambassador is never about one person; it is about countries, connections and collaboration. I am proud to share this honor with all those who have supported and inspired me along the way.”

Mauritania, roughly the size of Texas and California combined, is home to just over 5.3 million people. That makes it one of the world’s least densely populated countries. It’s also one of the world’s poorest. The westernmost of the 22 member states of the Cairo-based Arab League, it ranks 161st—just behind Syria and ahead of Nigeria—out of 191 jurisdictions in the United Nations’ 2025 Human Development Index.

The world’s largest country lying entirely below an altitude of 1,000 meters, Mauritania also faces widespread desertification due to persistent drought conditions and climate change.

This is the third year in a row NUSACC has presented its Ambassador of the Year award to a female envoy from North Africa—a reflection of the growing clout of women in the region’s diplomatic corps. In 2023, the winner was Moroccan Ambassador Lalla Joumala Alaoui, and in 2024, the award went to Tunisian Ambassador Hanène Tajouri Bessassi.

Boide, Mauritania’s first female envoy to the United States, arrived in March 2021. For two years before that, she was its permanent representative to UNESCO in Paris.

The ambassador, one of eight children, has a bachelor’s degree in tourism and hotel management from the International Institute of Tourism in Tangier, Morocco. She has also earned advanced degrees from the University of Lille in France, and speaks French, Arabic, English and Spanish.

From 2002 to 2009, Boide held various positions within Mauritania’s Ministry of Commerce, Craft and Tourism, helping to publicize the North African country as a tourist destination. She went on to serve as Mauritania’s minister of culture, youth and sports (2009-13), and president of her country’s National Education, Science and Culture Commission.

In 2014, she became an international policy and strategic consultant, doing management, project evaluation and sustainable development until her UNESCO appointment in 2019.

Among other things, it said she played a key role in organizing the July 2025 meeting between President Donald Trump and his Mauritanian counterpart, President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani. She also facilitated Mauritania’s participation in the 2023 Summit for Democracy—as the second Arab country invited—underscoring her country’s democratic progress.

In addition, Boide played a pivotal role in 2024 to restore Mauritania’s eligibility—after years of suspension—in the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), opening new channels for trade, investment and preferential access to US markets. Likewise, she successfully pushed for Mauritania’s 2022 inclusion in the Millennium Challenge Corp. (MCC) Threshold Program, laying foundations for large-scale cooperation in climate resilience, energy and infrastructure.

Finally, it says, she helped integrate Mauritanian officers into prestigious US military schools, strengthening her country’s role as a reliable security partner in the Sahel.

She also contributed to improving Mauritania’s ranking in the Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report in 2023, moving from Tier 3 to Tier 2 for the first time in the country’s history. This recognition by the US government, said NUSACC, “is strengthening reforms against human trafficking and hereditary slavery, paving the way for additional measures in coming years.”

Lastly, Boide took a leadership role among African, Arab and Francophone ambassadors, with Mauritania chairing the African Union in 2024. That required coordination with development partners regarding Africa’s participation in the G20.

Working closely with NUSACC, Boide has made two trips to the Midwest. The first, to Iowa, revolved around the $500,000 annual World Food Prize for food sustainability. The second trip, to Nebraska and Iowa, was to accompany Mohamed Malainine Ould Eyih, Mauritania’s minister of professional development.

During her visits to the Midwest, Ambassador Boide met with state governors and other officials. Her engagement with the private sector has generated growing interest in Mauritania by US companies in agriculture, energy, mining, transportation, logistics and digital technologies.

“I would like to thank the people of America’s Heartland for their warm hospitality during my recent visits,” she said. “I was very impressed by their agricultural expertise and capabilities, and I see many avenues for potential cooperation with my country, Mauritania.”

This past May, NUSACC and the Mauritanian government signed an MOU. Among other things, it creates a framework for guiding Mauritanian youth in the areas of training, employment and entrepreneurship; introduces Mauritania to US businesses; facilitating trade and technological exchanges; adopts innovative development programs; develops vocational and technical training curricula tailored to market needs; advises Mauritanian artisans in marketing their products in the United States, and leverages NUSACC’s expertise in agriculture, education, trade and industry.

Among other things, Mauritania has over 100 trillion cubic feet of confirmed natural gas, plus great potential in oil, wind and solar power.

But as Boide knows very well, Mauritania’s greatest resource is not in the ground. As a former minister of culture, youth and sports, she is the first to highlight Mauritania’s under-25 cohort, who make up more than 60% of the population.

“The future of any nation lies in the strength and creativity of its youth,” she noted. “I am proud that Mauritania recognizes this, making its young people not only the future, but active drivers of the present. By investing in their education, creativity and leadership, we are building the foundations for peace, progress and shared prosperity.”