Source : Sahel weather February 2025

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Much of the news has been dominated by mood swings in the education sector. Firstly, teachers planned demonstrations by twelve education unions, scheduled to start on February 12 - and announced as early as January 10 - and which actually took place. Among the teachers' demands: higher salaries, decent housing, payment to education service providers, chalk allowance, improvement in the situation of contract agents, etc. Then it was the turn of the students. In September 2024, the government decided to stop granting foreign scholarships to new baccalaureate holders. On February 25, the Syndicat National des Étudiants de Mauritanie (SNEM) announced a general halt to classes, in view of the situation regarding the allocation of scholarships. "We deployed our teams in the various institutes and faculties of the University of Nouakchott to demonstrate our bitterness at this decision by the Ministry of Higher Education", says a union press release. Two days later, the University of Nouakchott announced the suspension, until further notice, of elections for student delegates to university councils. The reason given was acts of "violence and vandalism" - in the words of the University - which had disrupted the electoral process in a number of polling stations.

On the other hand, Mauritanian students in Morocco have also expressed their dissatisfaction with the reduction in their scholarships. On February 24, the Union of Mauritanian Students and Trainees in Morocco organized a demonstration in front of the Mauritanian Embassy in Rabat. The Union rejected all "measures aimed at reducing or compromising scholarships", and at the same time called on Mauritanian students abroad "to prepare for escalatory options in defense of legitimate rights and the protection of gains".

Closer ties with Morocco

Mauritania and Morocco signed an electricity interconnection agreement on February 5, as part of a drive to strengthen their strategic partnership. The agreement, which aims to increase energy security in both countries and promote economic integration, is intended as a response to the challenges of energy distribution in West Africa. At the end of the month, the two countries also announced the opening of a new land border crossing east of Morocco. The Polisario Front, for its part, sees this as a way for Mauritania to recognize Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara. For the kingdom, this act, which is part of the "Atlantic Initiative" project, aims to open up access to the Atlantic for the Sahel states (Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso and Chad). Mauritania is also pursuing its economic rapprochement with Algeria, this time through the signing of nine export agreements. These cover agricultural products, building materials, household appliances, detergents and electrical equipment, and pharmaceutical and parapharmaceutical products.

Internally, the Mauritanian justice system has requested twenty years' imprisonment on appeal for ex-president Ould Abdel Aziz. President of the country from 2008 to 2019, he is accused of "influence peddling", "money laundering", "breach of trust" and "illicit enrichment". He was sentenced in the first instance to five years in prison in December 2023. In addition, an investigation by the French media Off Investigation revealed a case of "squandered 22 million euros of French development aid". According to the investigative medium, this sum, poured by the French Development Agency (AFD) into a project aimed at developing access to drinking water in the country, "turned into a fiasco and would above all have enriched powerful allies of Paris in the region."

Persistent migratory drama

Earlier this month, fifteen illegal migrants, including one Mauritanian, were found dead in a boat off the coast of Nouadhibou (north-west Mauritania). According to the town's authorities, the boat was carrying 39 migrants, nine of whom were dead and ten in a critical condition, who were taken to hospital by the Mauritanian Red Crescent. The survivors are Senegalese and Malians. On February 12, the media outlet Dakar Actu reported that a boat from Mauritania had capsized at sea. At that time, Spanish sources reported that 78 people had been rescued, including 10 women and a baby, a lifeless body had been recovered and transferred to the island of Hierro, and two people were reported missing.