Mauritania’s new president, Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani was on Thursday officially inaugurated during a solemn ceremony held in Nouakchott, the country’s capital said.
Winner of the June 22, 2019 poll with more than 50 percent of the vote, Ould Ghazouani was sworn-in before the President of the Constitutional Council, Diallo Mamadou Bathia, who proclaimed him President of the Republic.
The inauguration ceremony took place in the presence of a dozen African Heads of State, including those of G5 Sahel (Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso and Chad), as well as those of Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire, with Moroccan and Algerian Prime Ministers also gracing the event.
Representatives from Western countries, such as France, Spain and the United States of America were also in attendance.
In his inaugural address, Ould Ghazouani pledged to create tens of thousands of jobs for all unemployed youth, whether they are graduates or not.
He also promised to give “utmost attention to vulnerable groups and those who have historically suffered from any form of marginalization,” announcing in this context, intense programs and targeted interventions to eliminate all marks of underdevelopment and enable underprivileged groups to join the rest of society.
The new president also expressed his intention to protect national unity and the Muslim religion and to maintain efforts to improve the level of professionalism of the armed and security forces.
Earlier, incumbent President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz said that Mauritania’s foreign exchange reserves currently cover its import requirements for seven months, while they only covered a month and a half in 2009.
He added that GDP has evolved by 50 percent between 2009 and 2019, during which time, he led the country.
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