Military chiefs from ten out of the 15 member states of ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) gathered for an emergency summit in Abuja, the Nigerian federal capital city where the regional bloc is headquartered, to discuss the evolving situation in the Republic of Niger. They issued a seven-day ultimatum, due to end at 23:00 GMT on Sunday, 6 August 2023, demanding the reinstatement of Niger’s democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum. In the interim, participating ECOWAS member states imposed economic sanctions on Niger, froze Nigerien financial assets in their central banks of participating, and closed their borders with Niger. But Sunday came and went without the desired handover of power in Niger, just as the military junta dug its heels in and closed Nigerien air space to foreign aircraft until further notice. The precise nature of ECOWAS’s proposed intervention in Niger in response to non-compliance with this ultimatum, agreed upon by the same military chiefs on 4 August, remains unclear to date.
The ECOWAS intervention followed a military coup on 26 July 2023, eight days before Niger’s National Day on 3 August-which marks the 63rd year of Niger’s independence from France in 1960. Bazoum was placed under house arrest, just as General Abdourahmane Tchiani, commander of the presidential guard since 2011, was installed in his place as head of state. Media images and video footage indicated considerable public support for the military takeover of power, as citizens took to the streets in the Nigerien capital of Niamey displaying anti-French and pro-Russian sentiments. Despite speculation to the contrary, there appears to be no evidence of involvement in the coup by either the Russian state or by the Russian paramilitary Wagner Group.
Niger, a landlocked nation, is named after the Niger River, which flows east to west through the southwestern part of the country. It is the largest country in West Africa, lying in the heart of the Sahel, a semi-arid sub-Saharan belt of land extending between the Atlantic Ocean and the Red Sea. Niger consists mainly of desert, which is fringed by highlands to the north and savannah in the south. Most of the population is concentrated in the more fertile south. Only around 4 per cent of the country’s territory is given over to the cultivation of food crops. Cyclical droughts add to the longstanding food insecurity. Hereditary slavery officially ended only as recently as May 2003.
Niger remains one of the poorest countries in the world, with a per capita GDP of only $545 in 2022. The country’s economy is largely driven by international aid. Niger’s geopolitical significance derives from its sensitive location in the transition zone between the Sahara Desert and the savannah to the south, and from its treasured uranium deposits. Uranium was first discovered by the French Commissariat a l’ Energie Atomique (CEA) in 1959. Uranium mining began in 1968, and sales of uranium commenced in 1971. Production was controlled by the French from the outset through an exclusivity contract. France remains the largest importer of Nigerien uranium, mostly used in nuclear power generation. Niger is the second largest supplier of uranium to France’s 56 nuclear reactors (in 18 power plants), as well as being third largest supplier of uranium to the wider EU.
ECOWAS founded in Lagos in May 1975, with Niger a founding member. It is far from being a united entity. Burkina Faso, Guinea, and Mali are currently suspended from ECOWAS. These three nations have all pledged their support for the military junta in Niger, while Chad has refused to participate in any planned military actions against its western neighbour. On the other hand, Nigeria, Niger’s smaller southern neighbour and the dominant member of ECOWAS, shares a 1,000-mile-long border with Niger and supplies 70 per cent of the nation’s electricity, enabling it to exert a countering influence on Niger’s current rulers.
Support for France from within Niger has been declining over several decades. The coup of April 1974, which led to the removal of the country’s first president, Hamani Diori, was partly related to a perceived unequal post-independence partnership between Niger and France, especially with respect to the uranium industry. There remains widespread dissatisfaction over the poor state of the economy and over the continued use of the CFA (Communauté Financière Africaine) franc, a currency pegged to the euro, which is seen as a tool for French monetary control over the regional economy.
President Bazoum was the only remaining ally of the West in the Sahel, an unstable region that has been plagued in recent years by Islamist radicals from such groups as Islamic State and al-Qaeda, especially in the three-border region between Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso. At the time of the coup, France had a garrison of 1,500 troops in Niger and an air force base, all engaged in the fight against terrorism. In late 2022, Niger even accepted French troops involved with Operation Barkhane, a military counter-terrorist campaign, after their expulsion from Mali. Bazoum also promised a helping hand to Europe in its attempts at border control, agreeing to receive intending migrants being sent back from detention centres in Libya.
The situation in Niger is symptomatic of a growing post-colonial malaise in Francophone West Africa. Despite recent attempts by President Macron to build bridges with France’s former colonies, there appears to be a growing mistrust of French motives and a greater desire to develop alternative relationships, with other major powers from the East, particularly Russia and China. A localised version of the wider Cold War seems to be playing out in Niger, with the ultimate outcome far from certain.
Ashis Banerjee