An independent Mauritanian commission investigating two fires that knocked out power across Nouakchott in August delivered its final report to Prime Minister Mokhtar Ould Diay on October 6, finding irregularities spanning the Energy Ministry, state utility SOMELEC, contractor CTM Bâtiments and consulting engineer IRAF. President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani received the commission on October 8 and ordered full publication of the findings along with rigorous implementation of its recommendations.
The nine-member panel, chaired by former minister Ousmane Mamoudou Kane with technical support from Swiss firm ECG and German firm INTEC, concluded that the emergency rehabilitation contract was awarded to an unqualified bidder and that the cable manufacturer and specifications were changed without prior proof of equivalence to the original design. The two fires, which struck the Nouakchott-Nord and Nouakchott-Ouest substations on consecutive days, August 21 and 22, originated in 33kV cells tied to new connections energized just days earlier, on August 15 and 20. Investigators said the precise technical trigger for the initial spark could not be established with certainty, though they pointed to a probable cable, termination or junction defect that caused a gradual temperature rise before an electrical arc formed, and they cited inadequate fire-detection and suppression equipment, the absence of firebreaks between 33kV cells, and no SOMELEC staff on site at the moment of either fire.
The Prime Minister ordered implementation of recommendations for administrative measures and judicial procedures. The commission identified institutional, management and contractual failings involving the Energy Ministry, SOMELEC, CTM Bâtiments and IRAF. It cautioned that a failing's contribution to the fires must be established separately.
The fires struck during peak summer demand, cutting power to districts including Toujounine, Dar Naïm, Arafat, Tevragh Zeina, Ksar and Sebkha, and disrupting operations at Nouakchott's airport and port. Separately, civil-society group OTI/Transparence Inclusive alleged a possible conflict of interest involving a company linked to a sitting parliamentarian, a claim distinct from and not confirmed by the commission's own findings, and OTI's earlier investigation suggested CTM Bâtiments' bid may not have been the lowest of four submitted.
Key details remain unresolved in the official implementation announcement: it does not give a detailed repair schedule or financing source, or specify individual administrative sanctions, judicial referrals or legal provisions.