Jihadist, migration, slavery the important thing points

As Mauritanians head to the polls within the presidential election, the nation faces a mess of points together with a legacy of army coups, migration, jihadist assaults in neighbouring international locations and a harrowing legacy of slavery.

President Mohamed ould Cheikh Ghazouani, who has been in energy for the reason that nation’s first democratic transition in 2019, is looking for a second and last time period.

Six different candidates are difficult him for the highest job.

This election is a litmus take a look at of Mauritania’s burgeoning democracy and an indicator of how properly it’s progressing on its path to better political openness.

When former President Mohamed ould Abdel Aziz stepped down in 2019 after his tenure, it heralded a brand new period for a rustic that had endured a number of army coups and authoritarian rule.

“Mauritania has the strongest democratic credentials within the Sahel at current, which given its historical past of coups is sort of shocking,” Joseph Hammond, iDove Fellow on the African Union, instructed the BBC.

A type of hoping to be Mauritania’s subsequent chief is Biram ould Dah ould Abeid, who got here second within the 2019 elections.

Mr Abeid’s grandparents have been slaves and he has spent a lot of his life campaigning towards the follow.

He has been arrested and imprisoned through the years due to his work as president of the Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Motion (IRA).

Slavery stays a delicate concern in Mauritania, which was the final nation on the earth to outlaw slavery, in 1981.

“My father fought towards pro-slavery all his life. I swore to my father that I’d battle with out ever compromising. I’d battle slavery and people who help it,” Mr Abeid instructed the BBC in 2016.

It has been abolished within the nation 3 times, however hundreds of black Mauritanians nonetheless stay as unpaid home servants, whereas anti-slavery activists face repression.

An estimated 149,000 individuals are enslaved in Mauritania – about 3% of the inhabitants, based on the World Slavery Index (GSI) in 2023.

Migration is one other scorching subject concern that will likely be on voters’ minds as they head to the polls.

Mauritania is a key transit level for migrants attempting to succeed in Europe from West Africa, with hundreds of boats departing from the nation final 12 months.

In April, the European Union granted Mauritania €210m (£177m; $225m) in support – virtually €60m of which will likely be invested within the battle towards unlawful immigration to Europe.

Corruption additionally continues to be a significant downside in Mauritania.

Former President Aziz was jailed for 5 years for illicit enrichment and embezzlement and is disqualified from standing within the election.

The nation is wealthy in varied pure sources like iron, gold, phosphate and is an upcoming market within the oil sector in Africa, but virtually 59% of the inhabitants lives in poverty, based on the United Nations.

It additionally has large potential in renewable vitality – notably inexperienced hydrogen. This type of vitality might ultimately present a cleaner various to fossil fuels and play a job within the nation’s carbon-free vitality transition.

Buyers from Europe, Asia, and the Center East, notably the United Arab Emirates, intention to make Mauritania an vitality hub for inexperienced hydrogen manufacturing, based on the Africa Heart for Strategic Research.

President Ghazouani has additionally campaigned on the significance of the nation’s safety.

Mauritania is within the Sahel area, the semi-arid strip of land south of the Sahara desert, which is a hotbed of jihadist exercise, however the nation has been typically freed from assaults since 2011.

Its neighbour, Mali, nonetheless continues to wrestle with repeated jihadist assaults.

Analysts have partially credited President Ghazouani, whose lengthy profession within the military and safety companies has given him a deep understanding of the jihadist challenges going through the Sahel area.

President Ghazouani has developed a detailed alliance with Western companions like France and the US, however has additionally been cautious to maintain ties with its military-run neighbours like Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, who’ve shunned Western affect not too long ago, reviews the AFP information company.

Head of the US Africa Command, Gen Michael Langley, mentioned Mauritania has had a “longstanding” position in countering terrorism and stopping violent extremism within the Sahel.

Cheikhani Khlil, communication professor at Mauritania’s Lebanese Worldwide College, instructed the BBC President Ghazouani has allied Mauritania with the US to fight the assaults.

“There’s continued coaching performed by US particular forces for Mauritanian particular forces items to safe nationwide borders, which reinforces the tactical capabilities and fight readiness of our armed forces,” he mentioned.

Analysts say that as an vital participant in regional safety, Mauritania’s capacity to proceed this management position relies upon to a major extent on an efficient and peaceable switch of energy that results in a secure authorities.