MAURITANIA · POLITICS
Key Facts
- The country Mauritania is a desert nation on Africa’s Atlantic coast and a new exporter of liquefied natural gas.
- What happened Prime Minister El Moctar Ould Djay resigned on Friday 9 October 2026 and was reappointed that evening.
- Since then A 29-member cabinet was named on 10 October; the power utility and state hydrocarbons firm have new heads.
- Why it matters US-listed Kosmos Energy is a partner in the offshore gas project Mauritania shares with Senegal.
- Still open The reason for the resignation is not stated, and the published statements announce no prosecution.
In Plain English
Somelec is Mauritania’s state electricity company, and SMH is the state hydrocarbons company that holds the country’s side of the gas project. The commission is the independent panel that the prime minister created on 25 August to investigate the two substation fires.
Mauritania’s Prime Minister El Moctar Ould Djay, also written Ould Diay, resigned with his government on Friday 9 October 2026 and was reappointed that evening by President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani. Three weeks on, the state power utility and the state hydrocarbons company have new heads, and the new cabinet is at work.
For US readers the stakes are gas and electricity, because Kosmos Energy of Dallas, listed in New York, is a partner in the offshore gas project that Mauritania shares with Senegal. Mauritania has exported liquefied natural gas from the project, Greater Tortue Ahmeyim, since 2025, and its capital’s grid was hit by two substation fires in August.
The cabinet announcement and the reappointment were covered earlier in the 29-member cabinet story and the reappointment story. What is new here is the presidency’s timeline, the inquiry’s published findings and the appointments made at the cabinet meetings of 14 and 21 October.
What Happened
On Thursday 8 October the president received the head of the independent commission and ordered the government to act on its recommendations. He also ordered the report published, and the commission’s executive summary is now online.
On the morning of Friday 9 October the president received the prime minister, who handed in his government’s resignation. That evening a presidential decree named El Moctar Ould Djay prime minister again, and the president asked him to form a new government.
On Saturday 10 October the presidency published the list of the new cabinet, with 27 ministers, one minister in charge of the government’s general secretariat and one deputy minister. Its statement asked for a government able to carry out the president’s programme, help low-income households and create jobs for young people.
What the Inquiry Found
The commission, chaired by former minister Ousmane Mamoudou Kane, signed its executive summary on Tuesday 6 October and ties both fires to new 33,000-volt cable links put into service on 15 and 20 August. It could not pin down the exact fault, names heating where a cable’s metal screen meets its earthing braid as most likely, and found no sign of a deliberate act.
Power cuts lasted three to five days, and a national statistics survey cited by the commission puts the loss at about 0.07% of third-quarter 2026 GDP, plus more than MRU 220 million (new ouguiya, about US$5.4 million) in direct costs. Somelec put the repair bill at MRU 143.9 million (about US$3.6 million), at the central bank’s reference rate of MRU 40.37 per US$ on Thursday 29 October.
The commission says the utility changed the cable maker without proof of equivalence and that the winning bidder, CTM Bâtiments, was not qualified for its MRU 124 million (about US$3.1 million) contract. It recommends that Somelec be told to halt payments, begin steps to end that contract and pass a disputed performance certificate to the judicial authorities.
What Has Changed Since
At its first meeting after the reshuffle, on Wednesday 14 October, the cabinet named Thiam Tidjani, a former minister, director general of Somelec. It also made appointments to the energy ministry’s secretary general and electricity director general posts, two offices whose oversight the commission criticised.
On Wednesday 21 October the cabinet named Khrembali Ould Mohamed Lahbib, who had run Somelec before Tidjani took over, director general of SMH. The communiques give no reason for either move.
On Tuesday 27 October the prime minister launched ministerial missions to the interior regions, preparing the second phase of an urgent programme to widen access to basic services. The draft 2027 finance law that the cabinet approved on 21 October lists MRU 26.4 billion (about US$654 million) for that programme over 2025 to 2027.
What It Means for You
For US investors, the people now running Somelec, SMH and the energy ministry shape grid reliability and the state’s side of the gas project. Power reliability in Nouakchott is the first test for the new team.
For travelers, the State Department’s Level 3 advisory for Mauritania, last reissued on 15 July 2025 and citing terrorism and crime, is unchanged by the reshuffle. The reappointment also keeps the same prime minister at the head of the government whose cabinet approved the draft 2027 finance law on 21 October.
What Is Not Known
The presidency has given no reason for the resignation and has not linked it to the commission’s report, which reached the president the day before. No published statement explains the choice of the new ministers or the changes at Somelec and SMH.
The cabinet communiques of 14 and 21 October do not say whether payments on the cable-link contract were halted or whether any case went to prosecutors. The published summary runs 12 pages and carries no reply from the companies it names.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did Mauritania’s prime minister resign?
Yes, El Moctar Ould Djay resigned with his government on Friday 9 October 2026. President Ghazouani reappointed him by decree that evening and told him to form a new government.
Why did the government resign?
The presidency gave no reason. The resignation came the morning after an independent commission handed the president its report on two substation fires in Nouakchott.
Who runs Mauritania’s power utility now?
Thiam Tidjani, a former minister, was named director general of Somelec on 14 October 2026. He replaced Khrembali Ould Mohamed Lahbib, who was named head of the state hydrocarbons company SMH a week later.
Does the reshuffle change US travel advice for Mauritania?
The State Department’s Level 3 advisory for Mauritania, reissued on 15 July 2025, still applies. It cites terrorism and crime, and the reshuffle has not changed it.
Sources: Presidency of Mauritania, commission report and order to publish, 8 October 2026; Presidency, resignation of the government, 9 October 2026; Presidency, decree naming the prime minister, 9 October 2026; Presidency, new cabinet list, 10 October 2026; Presidency, Council of Ministers communique, 14 October 2026; Presidency, Council of Ministers communique, 21 October 2026; Prime Minister’s office, ministerial missions meeting, 27 October 2026; Independent commission of inquiry, executive summary, 6 October 2026; Central Bank of Mauritania, reference exchange rate, 29 October 2026; US State Department, Mauritania travel advisory, reissued 15 July 2025; Kosmos Energy, first cargo at Greater Tortue Ahmeyim, April 2025. More: Africa news in English and the Mauritania hub.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief