Mohammed Ould Ghazouani is re-elected for a second term in Mauritania

Mauritania's President Mohammed Ould Ghazouani has once again won the presidential election with more than 56% of the vote, securing his second term in office after winning the polls for the first time in 2019. 

Ghazouani, a former army chief of staff and defence minister, has pledged to ensure security and boost investment to stimulate Mauritania's raw materials. The African country possesses important natural resources such as iron, copper, zinc, phosphate, gold, oil and natural gas. 

Mauritania is on the verge of becoming a gas producer thanks to the launch of the Greater Tortue Ahmeyin offshore gas project, operated by BP, on the border with Senegal. This plan is expected to be launched by the end of the year.  

Ghazouani won the first round of the election against six other candidates. His main rival, activist Biram Dah Abeid, came second with 22% of the vote, followed by Hamadi Sidi El Mokhtar of the Islamist Tewassoul party with 12.8%. 

Abeid has rejected the provisional results citing irregularities and claimed to use his "own electoral commission to proclaim the results". "We will not accept these results from the so-called independent electoral commission," Abeid told a press conference in Nouakchott, according to Reuters.  

El Mokhtar also warned before the polls that his party would not accept the results if it suspected any irregularities. In the 2019 elections, some opposition candidates questioned the credibility of the vote, leading to small-scale protests. 

Preliminary figures showed that turnout for this past weekend's vote was just under 55.33%, electoral commission data showed.  

Despite criticism from his opponents, the president enjoys great popularity among Mauritanians, who perceive his government as a model of stability in a region marked by coups and jihadist violence. 

Likewise, Ghazouani, who is also the current president of the African Union, has managed to position his country as a strategic partner of the West in the midst of a deeply unstable Sahel where countries such as Russia are increasingly gaining influence.   

However, the Mauritanian leader must also confront poverty and lack of opportunity in the African nation. According to the United Nations, almost 60% of the population lives in poverty, which has led many young people to try to reach Europe or even the United States to seek a better life.