Mokhtar Ould Djay (; born 28 December 1973), also spelled Moctar Ould Diay or Mokhtar Ould Diaye, is a Mauritanian politician serving as the Prime Minister of Mauritania since 2 August 2024. He previously served as

Minister of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

and Minister of Economy and Finance under the presidency of

Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz (; born 20 December 1956) is a retired Mauritanian military officer and politician who served as the 8th President of Mauritania from 2009 to 2019. A career soldier and high-ranking officer, he was a leading figure in ...

, and more recently as Head of the Office of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Mohamed Ould Ghazouani Mohamed Ould Cheikh Mohamed Ahmed Ould Ghazouani (; born 4 December 1956), also known as Ghazouani and Ould Ghazouani, is a Mauritanian politician and retired army general who has been the 9th President of Mauritania since 2019, and the 22ndch ...

Early life

Mokhtar Ould Djay was born on 28 December 1973 in Moudjéria, Tagant. He later moved to Magta Lahjar, in the wilaya of Brakna, to complete primary and secondary studies in the town, obtaining a

baccalauréat The ''baccalauréat'' (; ), often known in France colloquially as the ''bac'', is a French national academic qualification that students can obtain at the completion of their secondary education (at the end of the ''lycée'') by meeting certain ...

specialised in mathematics in 1992. He obtained a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in Engineering from the National Institute of Statistics and Applied Economics of

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ) is the Capital (political), capital city of Morocco and the List of cities in Morocco, country's seventh-largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan population of over 1.2 million. ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

, in 1997. From 1998 to 2003, he was responsible for labour market data, involved in the national employment policy project funded by the

United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development. The UNDP emphasizes on developing local capacity towar ...

(UNDP). At the same time, between 2000 and 2002, he completed his higher education by obtaining a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in Statistics and Econometrics at the

University of Toulouse The University of Toulouse (, ) is a community of universities and establishments ( ComUE) based in Toulouse, France. Originally it was established in 1229, making it one of the earliest universities to emerge in Europe. Suppressed during the ...

through

distance education Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance; today, it usually involves online ...

. From 2003 to 2008, he was responsible for the monitoring and evaluation of the Education and Training project and was the Director of the Office of Specialised Studies in the field of Statistics and Economics.

Political career

In 2003, he joined the Ministry of Education as an Advisor for Strategies, Monitoring and Evaluation. After seven years in this position, he was appointed Director General of Taxes in 2010.

Minister of Economics and Finance

He became

in January 2015 under Yahya Ould Hademine, with his portfolio later extending to also cover the Ministry of Economics following a cabinet reshuffle. During its mandate, Mauritania experienced an economic shock related to the fall in commodity prices and in particular, the fall in the price of iron ore. Two months before the end of his mandate, he concluded the agreement between the Mauritanian government and the Australian company BCM International, for the exploitation of mines belonging to the (SNIM) in the town of F'Déirick. His name was considered in 2018 as a potential candidate to succeed

due to his close ties to the president, however

became candidate instead. He was nominated by Ghazouani to become the Director of SNIM in September 2019, holding the office until March 2021.

Head of the President's Office

He was appointed on 4 July 2023 as Head of the Office of the President of the Republic by

. He coordinated El Insaf's successful campaign for the 2023 Mauritanian parliamentary,

regional In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

and

local Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...

elections in the city of

Nouakchott Nouakchott ( ) is the capital and largest city of Mauritania. Located in the southwestern part of the country, it is one of the largest cities in the Sahara. The city also serves as the administrative and economic center of Mauritania. Once a ...

, in which the party secured control of all nine communes and the regional council, the first time a national ruling party managed to do so.

Prime minister

Djay was appointed prime minister by Ghazouani on 2 August 2024 following Mohamed Ould Bilal's resignation and government reshuffle in the aftermath of the 2024 Mauritanian presidential election.

Personal life

Ould Djay is married and a father of seven children. He speaks Arabic and French.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Djay, Mokhtar Living people 1973 births University of Toulouse alumni Prime ministers of Mauritania Finance ministers of Mauritania Economy ministers of Mauritania People from Tagant region 21st-century Mauritanian politicians