A man casts his ballot, during the presidential election, in Nouakchott, Mauritania, Saturday, June 29, 2024. Mauritanians are voting for their next president, with the incumbent Mohamed Ould Ghazouani widely expected to win the vote after positioning Mauritania as a strategic ally of the West in a region swept by coups and violence. People wait outside a polling station to vote , during the presidential election, in Nouakchott, Mauritania, Saturday, June 29, 2024.
The full results are expected on Sunday evening but Ghazouani, a former army chief and the current president of the African Union, has a comfortable lead. Mauritania is rich in natural resources including iron ore, copper, zinc, phosphate, gold, oil and natural gas. It is poised to become a gas producer by the end of the year, with the planned launch of the BP-operated Greater Tortue Ahmeyin offshore gas project at the border with Senegal.Mauritania goes to the polls with a regional security crisis and economic concerns among the issues
Biram Dah, who came second in the vote acccording to the provisional results, warned on Sunday against “an electoral coup d’état for the benefit of Ghazouani, who was defeated by voters.”