Located in central Nouakchott, Shanqeet Market – or the “women’s market” as it is known to locals – just achieved one more milestone. Over twenty years after it first opened, the market opened its 250th store and now spreads across two floors. Being a recognized symbol of women entrepreneurship in Mauritania, the government has twice awarded the market’s founder, Lematt Bent Makeya as ‘Women of the Year’.

Although men cannot own stores in Shanqeet Market, shopping is not exclusive to women, neither is working. In fact, men are clearly the majority of the market’s workforce. Inside the stores, which stay open past midnight, one can today find every kind of item from household products to groceries or appliances.

The expansion of the market itself has also led to other developments in the Mauritanian retail sector and its structure and organization. The union of businesswomen, which today counts with more than 7000 members, resulted from efforts of store owners in Shanqeet.