my [estranged] homeland

I became inspired to write more about Mauritania after a brown bag lunch at AED where we discussed technical assistance in Southern Sudan. Something that struck me was the fact that Southern Sudan is going to have its first presidential elections in 2010 and this will affect AED’s development projects in that country. Right now they have to deal with corruption and government bureaucracy so perhaps more democracy will mean better transparency better implementation for the projects.
With regard to Mauritania, they too have had a recent “electoral coup” is what they call it. It’s not quite an election because apparently it was rigged for the General (now president) Abdel Aziz to win. AED currently doesn’t have any development projects in Mauritania and it’s probably because of the extreme political instability there. Perhaps in due time AED will expand its portfolio to include Mauritania.

Country stats

Political concerns: poverty, inequality, lack of democracy- the majority of the population lives on less than $2 a day.
President Abdel Aziz’s platform: portrays himself as the “president of the poor”
US relations: it seems that the USG has endorsed his victory and be willing to work with him. This is a positive step. Although he may be corrupt (who isn’t) at least this opens the door for [hopefully] positive Mauritanian relations with other foreign countries.


Located in northern Africa, Mauritania sits on the North Atlantic Ocean between Senegal and the western Sahara.

please click on the label Mauritania in older posts


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t. childz©