Niger coup leader suspends export of uranium and gold to France amid escalating animosity
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Niger coup leader General Abdourahamane Tchiani, despite being EU's largest supplier of uranium, halts uranium and gold export to France
Niger coup leader General Abdourahamane Tchiani, despite being EU’s largest supplier of uranium, halts uranium and gold export to France.
The junta in Niger announced that it was suspending the export of uranium and gold to France with immediate effect.
Niger accounts for 15-17 percent of the uranium used to generate electricity in France.
In parallel to the decision, protestors were surrounding the French Embassy in Niger calling for the end of French colonial practices repeating the slogan “Down with France!” and reaffirming their support to the coup leader, Tchiani.
“We have uranium, diamonds, gold, oil, and we live like slaves? We don’t need the French to keep us safe,” protestors proclaimed.
Niger, according to the World Nuclear Association (WNA), is the world’s seventh-biggest producer of uranium.
The WNA also confirms that Niger, in 2022, produced 2020 tU which would be considered just over 4% of world uranium output.
Currently, uranium production in Niger occurs mostly through a French majority-owned company called Orano which owns 63.4% of Société des Mines de l’Aïr (SOMAÏR).
The remaining 36.66% of this is owned by Niger’s Société du Patrimoine des Mines du Niger, known as Sopamin.
In 2021, the European Union utilities purchased 2905 tU of Niger-produced uranium making Niger the leading uranium supplier vis-a-vis the EU.
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This comes after on Monday, Col Amadou Abdramane, one of the coup leaders, said on state television that Hassoumi Massoudou, the foreign minister of Bazoum, had signed a paper allowing the French to strike the presidential palace. However, no evidence was provided.
The junta vowed to defend Niger from any “aggression” by regional or Western powers, while accusing former colonial power, France, of planning military intervention.
While France did not confirm or deny the claim. In a recently released statement, the French foreign ministry said the only authority it recognised in Niger was President Bazoum’s.
A statement from President Emmanuel Macron’s office said France would not tolerate any attack on its interests in Niger, and would respond in an “immediate and intractable manner.”
Meanwhile, France has suspended financial support programs for Niger until the constitutional structure is restored in the African country where the military coup took place.
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