The World Bank has released the seventh edition of its Economic Update for Mauritania, which highlights a slowdown in economic growth in 2023, despite strengthened macroeconomic stability.

Economic growth declined in 2023 to 3.4% (0.7% in per capita), following a strong expansion of 6.4% (3.7% in per capita) in 2022. This deceleration is partly due to tighter monetary policy and fragile dynamics in some key sectors, such as rainfed agriculture and extractive industries. However, Mauritania’s growth performance remains higher than the world average of 3 percent and that of sub-Saharan Africa (2.9%).

In 2023, inflation declined faster than expected, reaching 5% compared to 9.6% the previous year. The current account deficit narrowed, supported by lower international food and energy prices, as well as a reduction in capital goods imports. The fiscal deficit also declined to 2.5 percent of GDP, supported by lower capital expenditure.

The medium-term outlook remains favorable, with growth projected at 5.4%. In order to realize sustainable growth potential, it remains crucial to overcome structural challenges, including by improving public financial management, optimizing the use of existing labor, and creating a more stable tax base.

The report highlights the current challenge of low human capital utilization in Mauritania: children born in 2024 can expect to utilize only 15% of their human capital potential by age 18. It is therefore paramount to address the bottlenecks that prevent the full and effective utilization of human capital, which is particularly acute in the country, and disproportionately affect youth, women, and educated workers. Closing gender gaps, lack of empowerment of women in the workforce, and access to education and economic opportunities for youth remain critical to maximizing the country’s economic potential.

In response to these challenges, the report proposes priority reform options to strengthen sustainable and inclusive growth.

In this regard, the improvement of the quality of education and vocational training to meet the needs of the labor market, as well as the improvement of employment prospects and support for entrepreneurship, are reform areas proposed in the report.

The report also recommended improvements in budget programming and execution, the adoption of a prudent and transparent tax framework, and the optimization of the country’s labor market information system, which offer real opportunities.

“Although Mauritania has made important strides in macroeconomic stability, it is fundamental to address the structural challenges that constrain long-term growth. By continuing its efforts to maximize human capital and optimize public finance management, Mauritania will not only be able to consolidate its gains, but also promote more sustainable and inclusive growth,” said Ibou Diouf, World Bank Resident Representative in Mauritania.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of The World Bank Group.

 A domestic court in Guinea is scheduled to deliver a verdict, including on reparations claims, on July 31, 2024, in the landmark trial of 11 men accused of responsibility for the country’s horrific 2009 stadium massacre, Human Rights Watch said today. The organization has released an updated question-and-answer document about the proceedings.

On the morning of September 28, 2009, several hundred members of Guinea’s security forces burst into a stadium in the country’s capital, Conakry, and opened fire on tens of thousands of opposition supporters peacefully gathered there. By late afternoon, at least 150 Guineans lay dead or dying in and around the stadium complex, and dozens of women at the rally suffered brutal sexual violence at the hands of security forces. Following the violence, security forces organized a cover-up, burying bodies in mass graves.

“The anticipated judgement provides a long-awaited moment of truth for victims and their families who have repeatedly called for holding the people responsible for the 2009 stadium massacre to account,” said Tamara Aburamadan, international justice counsel at Human Rights Watch. “Fifteen years on, victims and survivors deserve justice.”

The question-and-answer document details the following:

Key background to the trial;
11 defendants’ identities and their trial rights;
Guinea’s current political context;
Key challenges during the proceedings and open questions around delays, security, resources, and the prosecution’s request to reclassify the charges as crimes against humanity;
The role of victims and survivors in the trial and the right of victims to reparations;
Recommendations to Guinean authorities and international entities to continue to support justice efforts.

An annex to the document provides a detailed summary recapping 18 months of trial proceedings, based on Human Rights Watch’s monitoring and media reports.

The trial is the first of its kind against high-level officials for committing human rights atrocities of this scale in the country. These landmark trial proceedings were followed and discussed nationwide across Guinea.

The verdict day is expected to attract attention, similar to the opening day of the trial on September 28, 2022. The courtroom was packed with victims and their family members and media, while the trial was broadcast live on Guinean television and on YouTube.

Guinean and international media as well as observers can follow the live broadcast of the verdict and can also seek accreditation to attend the hearing in Conakry.

The trial deserves international attention due to the gravity of the crimes and also because it shows that domestic courts are essential in combating impunity. Lessons from Guinea could have an important role to play in encouraging best practices in the country and globally, Human Rights Watch said.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Human Rights Watch (HRW).

Hundreds of children living in the remote Gofa zone of Southern Ethiopia remain at risk of death and injury from rain-induced disasters, after surviving a series of landslides that killed at least 257 people, said Save the Children.

On Sunday, heavy rains in the area caused a major landslide which buried hundreds of people, including children, and on Monday a second landslide buried those searching for them. More than 15,000 people live in the immediate vicinity of the disasters, including at least 1,320 children under 5 years of age and nearly 5,300 pregnant and breastfeeding women, according to the UN.

Save the Children is working with local partners to roll out much-needed aid to communities impacted by the landslides, as search and rescue efforts intensify.  The response includes trucking in drinkable water, providing water purifying chemicals, setting up urgent health care and nutrition services, and building latrines. The aid agencies will also provide cash assistance and psychosocial support to affected families.

In Southern Ethiopia, landslides are common during the rainy season and are known to cause devastating disasters, leading to deaths, injuries and widespread displacement. But this year’s rainy season comes after a particularly unseasonable dry season, in which heavy rains and flooding linked to a combination of the El Nino phenomenon and human-induced climate change, have devastated communities.

At least 600,000 children across the Horn of Africa have been affected by flooding so far this year, leading to homelessness, and spikes in diseases such as cholera.  

Save the Children’s Country Director for Ethiopia, Dragana Strinic said:

“This week has brought horror upon horror for children in Ethiopia’s Geza Gofa district. It is near impossible to try to conceive of the terror they must have been feeling as mud and earth came crashing down into their homes and swept away their communities.

“We now need to support the local community in its rescue mission and to look after survivors who have lost everything: their homes, livelihoods and food sources, access to clean water. This is a stark example of the devastation extreme weather events can bring to children and their communities, particularly those already affected by poverty.”  

Save the Children has been operating in Ethiopia for over 60 years. The organisation focuses on health, nutrition, water and sanitation, protection services, education and cash and in-kind distributions. Since the beginning of this year, Save the Children has reached about 1.35 million people including over 840,000 children through life-saving food, water distribution, and treatment for malnutrition.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Save the Children.

President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has sent a message of congratulations to Liberian President Joseph Nyuma Boakai on the occasion of his country’s Independence Day.

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, and His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Presidential Court, also sent similar messages to President Boakai.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Arab Emirates Ministry of Foreign Affairs&International Cooperation.