Mauritanians have headed to the polls on Saturday in a presidential election that will see the incumbent president, Mohamed Ould Ghazouani taking on six opponents to vie for the number one seat.
Ghazouani, aged 67, has vowed to expedite investments to encourage a commodities boom in the country which boasts a population of 5 million people, a lot of whom live in poverty regardless of its fossil fuel and mineral abundance.
Ghazouani was elected for a first term in 2019, and is majorly expected to win Saturday’s vote due to his party’s dominance.
His six opponents are: anti-slavery activist Biram Dah Abeid, who came second in 2019 with over 18% of the vote, lawyer Id Mohameden M’Bareck, economist Mohamed Lemine El Mourtaji El Wafi, and Hamadi Sidi El Mokhtar of the Islamist Tewassoul party.
It is reported that 2 million people registered to vote in today’s elections. The principle issues for the candidates include fighting corruption and creating job for the youths.
Ghazouani has promised a gas-fired power plant from the Greater Tortue Ahmeyin (GTA) offshore gas project, which is scheduled to begin production by the end of 2024 if re-elected for a second term.
He had also promised to invest in renewable energy and expand gold, uranium, and iron ore mining in the country.
There has been no record of militant attacks on Mauritania in recent years and Ghazouani, who is currently chairing the African Union, has promised to manage Islamist threats.
For this election, if no candidate receives over 50% of the vote, the election would move on to a second round.
In the previous election, some opposition candidates queried the credibility of the vote, and incited some small-scale protests.
The polls are scheduled to open at 7:00 am GMT and end at 7:00 pm GMT.
