Madar (Nouakchott) - Over two days, Saturday and Sunday, October 17 and 18, 2026, Prime Minister El Moctar Ould Djay toured health centres, hospitals, stadiums, water stations and sanitation sites across Nouakchott's three wilayas, days after the new government was formed on October 10, on the president's instructions, according to the Prime Minister's office.
The tour raises a question about the government's priorities: have everyday services, from health and water to sanitation and cleanliness, become the yardstick by which it wants to be judged? The prime minister tied project performance to contractual deadlines, announced the termination of delayed contracts and promised a full review of the visit's findings.
Key stops
Health: a new radiotherapy machine at the National Oncology Centre before November 15, a roughly 150-bed national hospital extension by mid-November, and terminated contracts for the ambulance supplier (44 of 100 vehicles delivered) and five delayed health centres, according to AMI.
Water: the Idini project, completed two months early, has raised water reaching the capital from 45,000 to over 100,000 cubic metres a day. But sanitation is only 14% complete with half of its 45-month timeline gone, according to Sahara Medias.
Cleanliness: the tour coincided with the government's admission that the capital's situation is "not satisfactory", with the prime minister calling cleanliness "directly linked to public health".
Debt: closing the tour, Ould Djay said the debt is going through "its best period"; IMF figures confirm falling ratios, with the external stock holding near $4 billion.
What remains open
The tour shows a gap between projects finished early and others that are lagging; sanitation, the opening of new health centres and cleanliness remain open files, which Madar follows in its updates series.
