Russia and the Wagner mercenary group have “tried to take advantage” of instability in Niger, Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Tuesday, two weeks into a bloodless military coup that ousted Niger’s US-allied president.
The uranium-rich, landlocked West Africa country is located in a region beset by military coups, poverty and extremism. Last month’s coup was the country’s fifth since it gained independence from France in 1960.
Washington – worried about the West’s waning influence in Africa and two US military bases in Niger – has called for the restoration of democracy and paused security coordination and financial aid.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a 15-nation regional bloc, has also cut off financial ties and threatened military intervention if the coup leaders do not back down.
But neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso – both recently rocked by coups backed by Russia – support Niger’s junta. A coup leader met with Mali’s Wagner-allied junta last week.
Acting deputy secretary of state Victoria Nuland on Monday visited Niger’s capital, Niamey, for “at times quite difficult” talks. She offered that the US could serve as a mediator. The junta did not accept.
As the standoff deepens, here’s what to know about what’s happening in Niger – and the global implications.
What is happening in Niger?
On July 26, a military junta, led by Niger’s presidential guard, detained President Mohamed Bazoum. As details of the crisis seeped out, the African Union warned of an “attempted coup d’état.”
International condemnation of the coup poured in. In a diplomatic blitz, France, the US, the African Union and ECOWAS, among others, urged the junta to restore Bazoum.
But two days later, Abdourahmane Tchiani, the head of Niger’s presidential guard, appeared on state-run television and declared himself the head of a transitional government. The junta suspended Niger’s constitution.
France and the European Union soon cut of hundreds of millions of dollars in aid. ECOWAS issued financial sanctions.
The US followed suit and suspended $100 million in financial support, paused security cooperation and issued a partial pullout of embassy personnel. About 1,000 US soldiers are stationed in Niger, primarily for counterterrorism operations.
Washington, however, has not officially called events in Niger a coup, as the designation would trigger an immediate block on all security aid, including funds for fighting extremism.
As the crisis deepened, ECOWAS issued an ultimatum and threatened military intervention if the junta did not restore constitutional order by this past Sunday. In response, Niger closed its airspace. But ECOWAS did not act when the deadline passed and is holding another emergency session Thursday.
How has the coup in Niger affected the region?
Bazoum, elected in 2021, was Niger’s first democratically elected leader. His ouster comes amid a string of military coups and political upheaval, a rise in extremism and growing Russian influence across the region.
Niger is the centre of a belt of countries rocked by recent coups. To its east are Chad and Sudan, where militaries took over in 2021, and to its west are Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea, where leaders were undemocratically ousted in 2021 and 2022.
This region has also struggled to control growing terrorist insurgencies. In recent years the US sought out allies such as Niger and Chad for counterterrorism operations.
Alongside homegrown extremism, Russia and its Wagner mercenary group have been gaining a foothold by backing military leaders and developing security and business ties in some of these countries.
The Wagner Group – in turmoil since its founder and leader, Yevgeniy Prigozhin, accepted exile in Belarus after a mutiny and failed march on Moscow in June – has provided fighters for hire across Africa.
How has the coup affected the West?
The coup in Niger is a blow to Western countries, including the US and France, which once ruled Niger as a colony.
Nuland told reporters in a phone briefing Monday that during her trip she tried to “get some negotiations going, and also to make absolutely clear what is at stake in our relationship and the economic and other kinds of support that we will legally have to cut off if democracy is not restored.”
“These conversations were extremely frank and at times quite difficult,” she said.
Nuland said she offered the United States as a mediator “to help address concerns on all sides” but was rebuffed. “I would not say that we were in any way taken up on that offer, but I’m hoping that they will think about it,” she said.
Speaking Tuesday, Blinken said he thought that the coup in Niger “was not instigated by Russia or by Wagner” but warned they would try to take advantage of the political and economic vacuum.
“Every single place that this Wagner Group has gone, death, destruction and exploitation have followed,” he said.
The military takeover has raised concerns over the fate of Niger’s uranium reserves. The country is the world’s seventh-biggest producer of uranium and one of the main exporters of the substance to Europe.
The junta has cut off exports to France, a major importer who uses the mineral to power its massive civil nuclear industry.
