Ghazouani holds early lead as Mauritania counts votes

Ghazouani, 67, a former top soldier who is widely expected to win, has pledged to boost investment to spur a commodities boom in the West African country of 5 million people, as it prepares to start producing natural gas.

“The last word belongs to the Mauritanian voters. I commit myself to respecting their choice,” Ghazouani said after he voted in the capital early on Saturday.

Elected for a first term in 2019, Ghazouani is facing a field of six opponents among them Abeid, who came second in 2019 with over 18% of the vote.

Other challengers include lawyer Id Mohameden M’Bareck, economist Mohamed Lemine El Mourtaji El Wafi, and Hamadi Sidi El Mokhtar of the Tewassoul party.

Casting his ballot soon after polls opened in the capital Nouakchott, 39-year-old geographer Mohamed Cheikh Hadrami said he had voted for a candidate “who will be able to reconcile Mauritanians”.

He declined to say who he had voted for.

Some 2 million people were registered to vote, with major election issues including fighting corruption and creating jobs for the young