Mauritania’s Government Resigns as President Tasks El Moctar Ould Djay With Forming a New Cabinet
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The Arab Post
- . October 12, 2026
- . Update: October 12, 2026 7:22 pm
A week of massively disrupted infrastructure in Mauritania’s capital has led to the resignation of its government, which came under intense heat from the public as a result. mauritania government resigns, Friday morning, the Mauritanian Prime Minister (Moctar Ould Djay) presented the mass resignation of his government to President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani at the presidential palace in Nouakchott.
But the political void was very fleeting. The President’s reappointment of El Moctar Ould Djay within hours was a major step towards keeping Nigeria stable. His new job is to forming a new cabinet that can implement the much-needed immediate crisis reforms.
The Catalyst: The Ousmane Kane Report and Nouakchott Power Outages
This is due directly to the recent catastrophic electrical grid failures, in the form of a political upheaval. The mass resignation took place less than 24 hours after an independent investigation was published by the state-run Mauritanian News Agency (AMI) that was highly critical of the president. The mass resignation came in the wake of the publication of a damning independent investigation less than 24 hours ago by the Mauritanian News Agency (AMI), which is state-funded.
High level commission chaired by Ousmane Mamoudou Kane, extensively studied the unprecedented Nouakchott power outages. The report has clearly blamed the long power outages on huge fires in two main electrical substations. Moreover, as explained in Financial Afrik, the investigation uncovered serious procurement problems which showed that the low quality of the equipment used was bought from private companies and was the cause of the devastating fires.
A result of all this, the nation’s capital was paralyzed by the resulting multi-day blackouts. Hospitals, commercial centers, and government ministries were completely left without electricity. The losses were huge among the small businesses, and the citizens demanded instant accountability. This heavy public pressure led to the immediate dissolution of the government and thus to the restoration of order.
What is Next for El Moctar Ould Djay?
With the appointment of El Moctar Ould Djay as his successor, the president is pointing fingers at individual ministries, and not the Prime Minister, for the disarray in infrastructure. Djay was appointed in August 2024 at the beginning of Ghazouani’s second term and is seen as an economic architect of great confidence, who has been able to successfully cope with previous economic difficulties.
The first thing Djay must do as the new cabinet leader is to clean up the weak ministries by making proactive steps in the formation of a new cabinet. The next government reorganisation will significantly address the energy, public works and interior ministries and ensure greater safety and procurement requirements.
Rebuilding Public Trust – mauritania government resigns
The administration is undergoing a transition and is under close watch by international players and regional stakeholders. The latter is intended to give “immediate administrative continuity” to foreign investors, Xinhua News Agency reported.
To keep it stable is particularly important for continuing negotiations with international partners such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Djay’s proven economic leadership is needed to sustain funding of key development initiatives in the country by these international financial institutions.
In the end, Mauritania’s government resigns it to its President to gamble on the fact that experienced leadership will be able to bring much-needed services back on track quickly, as El Moctar Ould Djay returned swiftly to the country. The official list of ministers who will come to the country is likely to be ratified and announced over the following weekend. To get the latest information on the recovery work of the State, please consult bulletins issued by the Presidency of Mauritania.
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