Sidi Mohammed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, the president of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania is due in Banjul today for a two-day state visit.

President Abdallahi is expected to touch the tarmac of the Banjul International Airport at 10:00 am and will be recieved his chief host, President Alhaji Dr Yahya Jammeh.

This is the first visit of President Abdallahi to Banjul, after assuming office in March 2007.

During the course of the visit, President Sidi Mohammed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi will meet members of the Mauritanian Community in The Gambia at the 5-start Sheraton Hotel in Brufut.  

This will be followed by a state banquet at the Kairaba Beach Hotel, to be hosted by President Jammeh in honour of his Mauritanian counterpart and members of his delegation.

Day two of the visit, will take President Abdallahi and members of his delegation on a visit to Gunjur fisheries complex, the Banjul seaport, before finally sealing the day with a tete-a-tete with President Jammeh at State House, Banjul.

President Abdallahi and his delegation will afterwards leave Banjul for Nouachott.

Biography

Born in 1937 in Aleg, a city located 250 from Nouakchott, President Sidi Mohamed Ould Abdallahi has been elected as President of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania following 25 March, 2007 presidential elections.  

He attended  Aleg Primary School and Rosso Secondary School.

Like many African leaders (Senghor, Houphoet Boigny and others) he joined the prestigious …cole Normale William Ponty (Senegal) where most of the elites of the French former colonies were trained.  

During his academic career, he undertook numerous trainings in French universities (Grenoble and Paris) after he had excelled at Dakar University.

He holds a BA in mathematics, physic and chemistry and  a doctorate degree in economics.

Upon returning to his country, he joined the civil service as the director of planning. In that capacity, he served as the focal point for the Second Economic, Social and Development Planning.

With a wide-ranging experience in strategic and econmic policy planning, he was appointed as  a Cabinet member in September 1971. He served in different departments such as the Department of  State for Finance and Economy until the 1978 miltary take-over.

From 1982 to 1985, he got a job at the  Kuwaiti Fund for Economic Development as a special adviser.

Following his decision to return home, he bagged a new ministerial appointment. He successively served at the Departments of Water Ressources and Fisheries.