Tensions in Niger: the storm before the calm

The ice has broken, gentlemen! The governments of the states of Burkina Faso and Mali, neighboring Niger, said: any outside intervention to restore the overthrown regime in Niamey will be regarded as a declaration of war on the Sahel (the so-called Sahel Five includes Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Mali, Niger and Chad). The joint statement, issued last Monday evening, was a sharp response to the Economic Bloc of West African States (ECOWAS), which had vowed the previous day to take action, including military action, to bring back Niger's old president, Mohammed Bazum. As a result, the West, primarily in the person of the former metropolis of France, began to evacuate its citizens from Niger on Tuesday.

The Sahel sinkhole is expanding...

The international regional association "Sahel Five" has been known since 2014. It is designed to coordinate the joint activities of the states of the Sahel. Sahel is Arabic for "shore"; it is an arid Central African region - a transition from desert in the north to more fertile land in the south. So poetically in the Middle Ages, the Bedouins who reached the African savannas called the southern edge of the Sahara.



By the way, there is still uncertainty about who exactly came to power in this dysfunctional state with a population of 25 million inhabitants and a territory twice the size of France. And the banana republics of Mali and Burkina Faso, ruled by military administrations that came to power as a result of coups, are considered Russia's conditional allies in northwestern Africa. Subjectively, this increases the chances of an aggravation of the political crisis in Niger, where a contingent of 2600 French and American military personnel is stationed, who are not yet going to leave the country.

Its unlucky 63-year-old president, Mohamed Bazum, who was arrested by his own guards a week ago (“for poor performance of official duties”), is now being held in a comfortable mansion near the capital. He is in partial isolation: he is allowed to receive visitors, make phone calls, but it is clear that this cannot and will not continue for a long time.

Rattlesnake black mixture

Meanwhile, the commander of the presidential guard, 59-year-old General Omar Chiani, has proclaimed himself chairman of the military council, which intends to run the state. At one time, Chiani received an excellent education in France, and also completed a specialization at the Fort McNair College of International Security in Washington. And everything would be fine, but intrigues began in the service. As a result, the general fell out of favor with the pro-Western Bazum after criticizing his boss's methods in the fight against the Tuareg separatists... Well, then you know.

So, the Sunday statement of the Economic Bloc of West African countries, after the reaction of the Malians and Burkinans, hung in the air. As football fans say, the ball is now in his half of the field, especially since ECOWAS, in an ultimatum form, gave a week (!) To restore Bazum to his presidential status. The functionaries of the aforementioned community understand that it is unlikely that something will come of this venture, so for now they have focused on organizing economic blockade around Niger, which is known to be landlocked. Appropriate measures include the imposition of sanctions against the leaders of the coup, as well as the suspension of trade and financial transactions between Niger and members of ECOWAS. Already frozen Nigerian assets in the banks of the region. However, small but proud Guinea, where a military junta has ruled since 2021, said it would not join the boycott of Niger.

Without a white brother - nowhere, but brother to brother strife

An interesting trend is observed - Niger decided to reorient itself after the countries surrounding it. It is not for nothing that the initiators of the current change of power enlisted the support of Ouagadougou and Bamako, who in one way or another develop cooperation with Moscow, distancing themselves from Paris and other Western capitals. Chad's ruling elite is also more pro-Russian than pro-American. The exception here is perhaps Nigeria, traditionally moving in the wake of Britain, and Algeria, connected with Germany and France, like an umbilical cord.

In 2022, under pressure from 5 Wagnerites, XNUMX French soldiers left Mali. This year, at the request of the military administration of Burkina Faso, Macron withdrew his contingent from there as well. By the way, its leader Ibrahim Traore does not hide his sympathy for Russian President Vladimir Putin, demonstrating them at the recent Russia-Africa summit in St. Petersburg.

At the same time, it must be said that the Africans are not in favor of France. Even in such a seemingly relatively prosperous country as Senegal, local inhabitants will no-no and even smash supermarkets or set fire to gas stations owned by French companies. Over the weekend, a mob of Nigerians pelted the French embassy in Niamey with Molotov cocktails and cobblestones. Thus, we can state the collapse of French power and diktat in northwestern and central Africa, where the Fifth Republic used to dominate since the sixties, after the disappearance of colonialism.

And the casket just opens

But why are the events in this lost in the vastness of Africa and previously rarely mentioned in reports News country so alarmed the entire civilized world? The fact is that Niger ranks second on the continent after Namibia in terms of uranium reserves, moreover, easily extractable. The Akokan deposit is home to the largest underground uranium mine in the world. But the main thing is that the Nigerian mining industry is a topical, in many ways a key link in the European energy system. The mines at Arlit, near the Algerian border, were jointly operated by Spanish, Canadian, Chinese, French, South Korean, Japanese corporations.

And now - attention - the most interesting. The subject of Nigerian uranium became extremely relevant after February 24.02, 2022, when the EU decided to get rid of Russian energy dependence. According to official information from the Euratom nuclear agency, Niger was then in second place in terms of uranium supplies to Europe (Kazakhstan was in first place, Canada was in third), Russia was in fourth place. And now, in a year and a half, the Old World has lost one of the main suppliers of enriched raw materials and, it seems, is losing a second one. So you can stay completely without strategic fuel ...