Mauritania’s PM resigns after days of power outages

Mauritania’s Prime Minister, Mokhtar Ould Djay, has resigned along with his government following a report that exposed serious safety lapses linked to fires at two electricity substations that plunged parts of the capital, Nouakchott, into darkness for several days.

State-run Mauritanian News Agency reported on Friday that Djay submitted his resignation to President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani during a meeting at the presidential palace.

The resignation followed the president’s receipt of an independent commission’s report on Thursday detailing shortcomings that contributed to the fires in August.

The fires occurred less than 24 hours apart, on August 21 and 22, at transformer substations operated by the Mauritanian Electricity Company in Nouakchott and its suburbs.

The resulting outages affected large parts of the capital and the towns of Ouad Naga, Idini and Aouleigat, with electricity supplies disrupted for between three and five days, depending on the location.

The commission identified serious deficiencies in fire prevention, electrical protection, supervision of work and emergency management. It linked the problems to three newly installed power lines.

The report identified overheating as the most likely cause of the fires but found no evidence of sabotage or operational error.

The electricity company subsequently announced that power had been fully restored at both substations after about five days of repairs.

Djay, who was appointed prime minister in August 2024 at the start of President Ghazouani’s second term, had served in the position for more than two years.

AFP