After a year without an ambassador to Morocco, Mauritania appointed a new one on Wednesday. This is Ahmed Ould Bahiya, former chief of staff to the previous president and ambassador to Paris and the Vatican.
Ahmed Ould Bahiya is not in unknown territory since he did part of his studies in Morocco. He obtained a 3rd cycle doctorate in mathematics in Rabat (Morocco) in 1989 and a State doctorate in Mathematical Sciences in the Faculty of Sciences of Rabat of Mohamed V University, in 1997.
Ould Bahiya succeeds Mohamed El Amine Ould Aby Ould Cheikh El Hadrami, who became Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research in April 2022. His name was already mentioned in 2014, when relations between Morocco and Mauritania were tense .
The new Mauritanian ambassador will have the task of strengthening diplomatic relations between Rabat and Nouakchott which in recent years have seen progress despite the interference of Algeria which is trying to scuttle the neighborhood between the two countries.
Born on December 31, 1962 in Atar (Mauritania), Ahmed Ould Bahiya also holds the Certificate of Aptitude for Teaching the First Cycle (CAPPC) and the Certificate of Aptitude for Teaching Secondary Education (CAPES). obtained respectively in 1984 and 1986 at the Ecole Normale Supérieure (ENS) in Nouakchott.
He worked as a lecturer from 1989 to 1996, then an authorized professor from 1996 to 2003, before becoming a university professor in 2003.
At the same time, he assumed the functions of Coordinator of the mathematical sector of the Higher Scientific Institute of Nouakchott from 1991 to 1995, then those of Coordinator of the math-physics sector of the Faculty of Science and Technology (FST) of the University of Nouakchott from 1995 to 1998. He then became Head of the Mathematics and Computer Science Department of the FST from 1998 to 2002, before being appointed Technical Advisor, in charge of Rector’s projects from 2002 to 2004, then Technical Advisor, in charge of teachers of the President of the University of Nouakchott, from 2007 to 2009.
From February to August 2009, he served as Secretary General of the same university before being appointed Minister of Secondary and Higher Education of Mauritania from 2009 to 2011.
From 2011 to 2013, he served as Minister of State for National Education, Higher Education and Scientific Research.
In 2013, he was appointed Chief of Staff to the President of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, a position he held until July 2019.
During his career, he has been a supervisor and member of the doctoral theses jury and has participated in various major conferences, including the African Union Summits and the United Nations General Assembly.
His scientific writings have been published in specialized international journals. Since August 2019, His Excellency Doctor Ahmed Bahiya has been appointed Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania to France.