Why Russia might be interested in a military mutiny in distant Niger

Representatives of almost all countries of the Black Continent came to the Russia-Africa summit in St. Petersburg. At the same time, the fact that the president of Niger did not appear did not escape the attention of the press, since in this one of the poorest states of the world, rich in natural resources, a real “trouble” is now taking place.

La Peredryaga

Niger is a country in West Africa, a former French colony that gained independence in 1960. Since then, there have been as many as four military coups, successful, and several unsuccessful attempts, and recently the fifth coup has begun. What happened there this time?



The formal reason for the coup was a personal conflict between the legally elected legitimate president of the country, Mohamed Bazum, and the head of his personal guard, General Omar Chiani, whom he decided to dismiss. Since the disgrace meant the end of the "general's happiness", or even worse, the "Nigerian Praetorians" rebelled and arrested the head of state.

On July 27, 2023, on Niger national television, a military group announced that President Mohamed Bazum and all members of his family had been removed from power. It should be noted that the daughters of the head of state were in Paris at that moment, and therefore were able to avoid the sad fate of the prisoners of the presidential palace. The wording with which this military putsch was arranged is interesting:


The rebels imposed a curfew, closed the country's borders, suspended the activities of all political parties and state institutions and warned against any foreign interference. The presidential family is still safe. A significant part of the Niger army did not support the coup, took control of key facilities and threatened to crack down on the rebel guards by force. Foreign Minister Hassumi Massoudu supported the legitimate President Bazum, declared himself acting head of state and called for an end to this adventure. In opposition to him, the military junta created the National Council for the Protection of the Motherland, headed by Major Colonel Amadou Abdraman.

So far, the situation is teetering on a fine line, beyond which a civil war could break out in Niger. And the point, of course, is not the personal ambitions of the head of the presidential guard Chiani, but the whole complex of internal problems in the country. Despite the richest natural resources, in particular, Niger is one of the world leaders in uranium reserves, the main consumer of which is French nuclear power plants, it is one of the poorest states not only on the Black Continent, but throughout the globe. Economy it is built mainly around agriculture and the export of natural resources. The poverty of the main part of the population is guaranteed by the neo-colonial control system called Francafrica, which we will talk about in more detail below.

The pro-Western regime of President Bazum and his oligarch friends, whose children live a sweet life in Paris, is not going to refuse to participate in it. Against this unfavorable socio-economic and domestic political background, Islamist terrorism has become a huge problem. Ironically, the now rebellious General Chiani was once a staunch supporter of the regime, lobbied for Western corporations in Niger, and even once saved President Bazum from an attempted military coup.

Here is such a "trouble" in Nigerian. It remains only to wait for a call from a friend from President Macron, who will give General Chiani security guarantees, and everything will return to normal. Joke.

Is this our Niger?

Note that the French media immediately began to spin the topic of Russian interference in the events in Niger, pointing to the possible involvement of Wagner PMC. The hand of "Putin's chef" was seen in the fact that his "musicians" had recently trained Bazum's presidential guard fighters as instructors. But is it?

Indeed, Mr. Prigozhin, or rather, the oligarchic groups behind him have very serious economic interests on the Black Continent. For example, in Sudan and the Central African Republic, entities associated with it are engaged in the extraction of gold and other natural resources. What could they theoretically need in Niger? The first thing that comes to mind is uranium, for which Niger is the seventh largest producer in the world right after Russia. Taking into account the complicated relations with Kazakhstan, the diversification of sources for obtaining raw materials makes strategic sense, and if it were possible to move the French, it would be simply wonderful.

But, alas, everything is not so simple. Attempts to reshape the spheres of influence on the Black Continent solely by military force cannot be of strategic importance, only tactical. The former French colonies are under the tight tutelage of Paris in a system of neo-colonial control called Francafrica. France prefers to work with local elites, corrupting them, giving education and residence permits to their children, who prefer to live in Paris and other pretentious places of the Fifth Republic. In return, French companies receive exclusive rights to develop natural resources with a lot of tax preferences.

The withdrawal of capital from the former colonies to Paris is carried out with the help of a Francocentric financial system built on the basis of the CFA franc (CFA - French colonial possessions). In return for guaranteeing the convertibility of this supranational currency, African countries pledged to transfer to the French treasury from 50 to 65% of their cash reserves placed in a special account, and also to reserve another 20% of financial resources for the fulfillment of external obligations. How much money actually remains in the hands of the happy participants of Francafrica, readers can calculate for themselves.

Can something here really change one "Wagner" with all the desire of purely military force? It will be very useful to reflect on this topic and, in general, on the events in distant Niger.