Niamey, Niger
Reuters
The European Union and France have cut off financial support to Niger and the United States has threatened to do the same, after military leaders this week announced they had overthrown democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum.
Niger is one of the poorest countries in the world, receiving close to $US2 billion a year in official development assistance, according to the World Bank. It is also a security partner of former colonial power France and the United States, which both use it as a base to fight an Islamist insurgency in West and Central Africa’s wider Sahel region.
General Abdourahmane Tiani, who was declared as the new head of state of Niger by leaders of a coup, arrives to meet with ministers in Niamey, Niger, on 28th July, 2023. PICTURE: Reuters/Balima Boureima
Niger’s foreign allies so far have refused to recognise the new military government led by General Abdourahamane Tiani, previously head of the presidential guard, who officers declared head of state on Friday.
Bazoum has not been heard from since early Thursday when he was confined within the presidential palace, although the European Union, France and others say they still recognize him as the legitimate president.
WHO IS NIGER’S NEW LEADER, ABDOURAHAMANE TIANI?
General Abdourahamane Tiani, the commander of Niger’s presidential guard, was appointed head of state on Friday by a governing council set up by military forces that ousted President Mohammed Bazoum.
Here are five facts about him:
BACKGROUND
Tiani is from Filingue, in the Nigerien region of Tillaberi, which borders Mali.
RISE TO ELITE UNIT
The 62-year-old decorated general and former military attache at Niger’s embassy in Germany has led the elite presidential guard unit since 2011.
DECORATED SOLDIER
He was the first officer on site when a French UTA flight crashed near Bilma in northern Niger in 1989, killing all 170 people on board, following a suitcase bomb explosion. He was decorated for having secured the crash site.
FIGHT AGAINST CONTRABAND
He also served as head of a battalion in Agadez and led military operations in the Niger desert against contraband and drug traffickers.
EXPLANATION FOR COUP
In a statement on state television on Friday, Tiani asked “the technical and financial partners and friends of Niger to understand the specific situation of our country and provide all necessary support to help it overcome the challenges it faces”. Reiterating that soldiers had seized power because of worsening security in the country, Tiani said: “We cannot continue with the same approaches proposed so far, as it risks witnessing the gradual and inevitable disappearance of our nation”.
– MOUSSA AKSAR, Niamey, Niger/Reuters
“In addition to the immediate cessation of budget support, all cooperation actions in the domain of security are suspended indefinitely with immediate effect,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement.
The French foreign ministry said France had suspended all development aid and budget support with immediate effect, demanding a prompt return to constitutional order with Bazoum back in charge. French development aid for Niger was at €120 million in 2022, and expected to be slightly higher this year.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said: “The very significant assistance that we have in place for people in Niger is clearly in jeopardy.”
The United States has two military bases in Niger with some 1,100 soldiers, and also provides hundreds of millions of dollars to the country in security and development aid.
Uncertainty on streets
On the bustling streets of the capital Niamey, business owners worried about uncertainty damaging trade, and about the prospect of financial flows from abroad abruptly drying up.
“We’ve noticed that our clientele have dropped. There are hardly any customers at all,” lamented electronics shop owner Abdoul Karim Mahama.
Niamey-based economist Abdoulaye Soly said: “All externally-funded projects will come to a halt. Development projects financed by the EU, World Bank, IMF and others will be halted. Budgetary aid given to Niger will be stopped.”
Niger is a key partner of the European Union in helping curb the flow of irregular migrants from sub-Saharan Africa. The EU also has a small number of troops in Niger for a military training mission.
The bloc allocated €503 million from its budget to improve governance, education and sustainable growth in Niger over 2021-2024, according to its website. Through its European Peace Facility, the EU had approved €70 million to support Niger’s armed forces since July last year, including €4.7 million of weapons approved on 8th June.
The United Nations said the coup has not affected its deliveries of humanitarian aid.
It was difficult to assess how much support the coup has among the population. Some crowds came out in support of Bazoum on Wednesday, but the following day coup supporters also took to the streets.
The Economic Community of West African States, and the West African Monetary Union will hold emergency summits in Nigeria on Sunday to discuss the situation, and further economic and financial sanctions could be decided.
After an emergency meeting on Friday, the African Union issued a statement demanding the military return to their barracks and restore constitutional order within 15 days. It did not say what would happen after that.
– With KATE ABNETT in Brussels, Balgium, and JOHN IRISH in Paris, France.
