DUBAI: The Niger coup contributes to an alarming trend of increased military takeovers across Africa, departing from the relatively stable...
DUBAI: The Niger coup contributes to an alarming trend of increased military takeovers across Africa, departing from the relatively stable period of the early 2000s, the UAE’s newspaper Gulf News has said.
This coup, orchestrated by the presidential guard, aligns with a pattern of political instability witnessed continentwide, the newspaper said. The coup, the seventh in a string of military takeovers across West and Central Africa within the past three years, has raised a web of interconnected issues that extend far beyond Niger's borders, posing challenges in the areas of geopolitics, economics, and security, and potentially destabilizing the fragile Sahel region, the newspaper believes.
Niger's strategic importance adds another layer of complexity to the situation. As home to substantial uranium deposits, the country plays a pivotal role in the global energy landscape, supplying 15% of France's uranium needs and contributing to 20% of the EU's stockpile, the newspaper says.
All this is evidence weak institutions, lack of checks and balances, and inadequate mechanisms for peaceful transitions of power continue to plague many African nations, the article reads. Despite its resource wealth, Niger grapples with economic struggles, consistently classified as one of the world's heavily indebted poor countries. Its vulnerability, Gulf News remarks, is exacerbated by the fact that 70% of the energy it consumes comes from Nigeria. Observers agree that the main reasons for the coup were "grievances over governance and the government's response to security threats posed by extremist groups."
In late July, a group of military officers from the Nigerien Presidential Guard mutinied and announced the removal of President Mohamed Bazoum. The National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland, led by the Guard’s Commander Abdurahman Tchiani, was formed to govern the country. Bazoum remains in custody at his residence but has been communicating by telephone with leaders and representatives of other countries.
The leaders of the regional group Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which includes Niger, have demanded that the rebels release Bazoum by August 7, threatening, among other things, to use force. However, neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso said they would see such a move as an attack on themselves. Since the ECOWAS ultimatum was not fulfilled, the community’s leaders will reconvene for a summit on August 10. The organization intends to increase sanction pressure on Niger and says a diplomatic solution is preferable.
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