Mauritanian PM reappointed hours after resignation over power outages

Mauritania's prime minister was reappointed on Friday, just hours after he had resigned over a scathing report into fires at two main electricity substations in the capital Nouakchott. President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani met with Mohamed Ould Cheikh and tasked him with forming a new government. The fires broke out less than 24 hours apart on 21 and 22 August, striking transformer substations belonging to the Mauritanian Electricity Company (Somelec) in Nouakchott and its suburbs. Subsequent power outages affected large areas of the capital, as well as the towns of Ouad Naga, Idini and Aouleigat, and lasted three to five days. The report by an independent commission outlined "serious shortcomings regarding prevention, electrical protection, work supervision, and emergency management". It said the fires were caused by electrical connectors that did not meet required technical standards and had been imported by a private company. It linked the issues to three newly installed electrical power lines, identifying overheating as the most likely scenario leading to the fires rather than sabotage or operational error. But it held the company and officials at the Energy Ministry responsible for the incidents.