Mauritania will hold a presidential election on Saturday, casting a spotlight on the nation’s deep-rooted issues as President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani seeks a second term amid regional instability and human rights concerns.
Ghazouani, hailing from an Arab Mauritanian background and a former army chief, assumed office in 2019 following Mauritania’s first democratic transition. His party, El Insaf, dominated last year’s legislative elections, securing 107 of 176 National Assembly seats.
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Ghazouani’s primary challenger is Biram Dah Abeid, a Black anti-slavery advocate who criticizes Ghazouani’s governance as corrupt and oppressive. At his final rally, Abeid decried widespread unemployment and youth emigration, urging rejection of Mauritania’s migration agreement with the EU, which he claims fails both Europe and Mauritania.
Abeid, himself descended from slaves, highlights the persistence of slavery in Mauritania, the last country to abolish it in 1981. Despite legal changes, approximately 149,000 people remain in modern slavery according to the 2023 Global Slavery Index. Abeid vows to continue his fight against this entrenched practice, fulfilling a promise to his father to combat slavery for life.
