President Inspects Eastern Substation Fire Damage, Orders Swift Restoration of Power

His Excellency the President of the Republic, Mr. Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, paid a field visit yesterday evening to the Eastern Substation in northern Nouakchott to assess the extent of the damage caused by the fire that occurred last Friday evening.

His Excellency observed the efforts to restore power and closely reviewed the progress of ongoing repairs to ensure that electricity service is restoredas soon as possible to the affected neighborhoods.

At the conclusion of the visit, His Excellency the President of the Republic issued a statement explaining that he had visited the Eastern Substation in northern Nouakchott that evening to personally assess the progress of the work underway since the substation experienced a breakdown two days ago—the same issue that affected a second substation in western Nouakchott.

His Excellency said that the visit was primarily intended to assess the progress of the repair work and estimate how long it might take to resolve the malfunctions and restore electricity service to normal.

He explained that the on-site inspection revealed the extent of the damage caused by the fire, which affected various pieces of equipment, noting that maintenance and repair teams are making significant and continuous efforts, working around the clock to resolve the malfunctions and restore power to citizens as quickly as possible.

His Excellency the President of the Republic affirmed that he had issued directives to the government to urgently provide all necessary resources for the repair process—whether in terms of human, material resources, or technical equipment—to ensure that the pace of work is accelerated and that the specialized teams are able to perform their duties as required.

He added that the briefings he received during the visit from officials and technicians give cause for optimism that power will be restored to homes within the next few hours, while work continues to repair the rest of the station’s facilities and equipment.

His Excellency the President of the Republic emphasized that the top priority is to restore electricity to citizens as quickly as possible, while the second priority—which is no less important—is to determine the true causes of these incidents and establish the circumstances surrounding them.

In this context, he stressed the need for a comprehensive and transparent investigation to uncover the causes of the incident and identify various shortcomings—whether technical or otherwise—in order to determine responsibilities based on the investigation’s findings and take all necessary measures to prevent such outages from recurring.

His Excellency noted that the country is currently undergoing an ongoing process to modernize the electricity system in the capital, Nouakchott, emphasizing that this work began some time ago and will continue in the coming period, with the need to accelerate its pace, particularly in the area of modernizing distribution networks.

He explained that the issue at hand does not concern the production sector, but rather centers more on the distribution system, which should be developed in accordance with modern standards that ensure efficiency, safety, and service continuity.

His Excellency the President of the Republic said that work is already underway to modernize the distribution network, emphasizing that the pace of this work will accelerate in the coming period, thereby helping to improve service quality and reduce outages and malfunctions.

His Excellency the President of the Republic noted that these incidents serve as an important lesson regarding the need to strengthen preventive maintenance, enhance readiness, and take the necessary proactive measures to avoid malfunctions and minimize their impact on citizens.

He emphasized that responsibility requires addressing these incidents with the utmost seriousness—first by restoring power to citizens, then by conducting a thorough investigation to determine the causes and identify the failures that led to them, and finally by drawing lessons to ensure such incidents do not recur in the future.