Mohamed Ould Ghazouani

Mohamed Ould Cheikh Mohamed Ahmed Ould Ghazouani (محمد ولد الشيخ محمد أحمد ولد الغزواني; born 4 December 1956), also known as Ghazouani and Ould Ghazouani, is a Mauritanian politician and retired army general who has served as the 9th President of Mauritania since 2019.

He has served as chairperson of the African Union since February 2024.

Ghazouani is a former general-director of National Security and former chief of staff of the Armed Forces of Mauritania (2008–2018). He was defense minister of Mauritania from October 2018 to March 2019. At that time a close ally of his predecessor Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, he was elected president of Mauritania on 22 June 2019 following the 2019 presidential election. His victory in the 2019 presidential election was presented as having been the country's first peaceful transition of power since independence.

Personal life
Ghazouani was born in Boumdeid, Assaba region on 4 December 1956. He belongs to a well-known Sufi family in Mauritania. Ghazouani is the son of a spiritual leader of the Maraboutic tribe Ideiboussat. Ghazouani has memorised the Quran.

He is married to a doctor, Mariam Bint Mohamed Fadel Ould Dah. They have five children, from whom Mohamed Lemine Ould Cheikh El-Ghazouani is the eldest son.

Military career
He joined the Mauritanian Army in the late 1970s. He continued his training as an officer in the Meknes Royal Military Academy in Morocco. He received a baccalaureate degree, a master's degree in Administration and Military Sciences, and completed several war training certificates and courses.

Ghazouani was aide-de-camp to President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya from 1987 to 1991.

Ghazouani was an ally of former President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, and was his partner in the overthrow of President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi in 2008, and was a member of the military junta that ousted former President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya in 2005.

Political career
In October 2018, President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz named him as Defense Minister of Mauritania.

On 1 March 2019, Ghazouani announced his candidacy for the presidency, seeking to replace Abdel Aziz. On 15 March he resigned as defense minister to pursue his presidential ambition.

On 22 June 2019, he became Mauritania's elected president after a presidential election against five other candidates.

On 1 August 2019, he was officially sworn in as the 9th President of Mauritania.

Shortly after being sworn in, his relations with former president Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz soured, due to revelations of financial misconduct committed by the former president. A parliamentary probe was opened into Aziz’s activities in August 2020, and he was officially sentenced in December 2023. Aziz claimed that Ghazouani had given the former president two large bags filled with seven million euros after being elected.