AFRIK

Tensions have risen to a fever pitch on the campus of the University of Nouakchott, capital of Mauritania, since the month of March. Arabization of the educational system has angered Black Mauritanian students and awakened historical tensions.

The delicate linguistic balance between Arabo-Berbers and Black-Mauritanian communities was agitated with only a few words. Those words were spoken on the 1st of March by the Mauritanian Prime Minister, Mohamed Ould Moulaye Laghdaf and Minister of Youth and Culture, Cissé Mint Boide. According to them the Arabic language should serve as an instrument of exchange and work within the Mauritanian administration. "The national languages are obstacles to the emergence of the Arabic language," said the Minister of Culture. These remarks have been deemed inadmissible by the Black African students of Mauritania. They held a protest last Tuesday to express their contempt. Alain Antil, an associate researcher and director of sub-Saharan Africa programs at the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI) and a doctor in political geography, analyzes the complex historical background in which the subject of Arabization in Mauritania has evolved. Discover a rivalry that has gripped Mauritania for decades.