Mauritanians head to the polls on Saturday with incumbent President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani expected to win a second consecutive term. But in a country deeply divided between the Arab-Berber community at the helm and a Black Mauritanian populace still suffering the effects of slavery, a controversial law making Arabic the official language in schools is stirring discontent.
From her home in Mauritania, Awa Ciré Ba is speaking to her son in Senegal via a video call. The Mauritanian mother says she decided to send her teenage son to study in neighbouring Senegal after the government in enforced Arabic as the main language of instruction in this West African country fractured on racial and linguistic lines.
