Niger Expels French Ambassador As Relations With The West Deteriorate

Sylvian Itte, France’s Ambassador to Niger, was given 48 hours to leave the country by its foreign ministry earlier this week on Friday 25th August. The embassy in the capital Niamey was soon flocked by anti-French demonstrators demanding his departure. However, the Ambassador remains in Niamey despite the deadline having passed over 3 days ago. The country, located in West Africa, was taken over in a military coup on 26th July when the democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum was placed under house arrest, and the head of his Presidential Guard General Abdourahmane Tchiani declared himself the country’s de-facto leader.

Niger’s foreign ministry said the decision was taken due to French actions that were “contrary to the interests of Niger”. France’s colonial legacy in Niger has given rise to growing anger among the public due to perceived interference in its affairs, and hundreds have already attended protests at French military bases, demanding the departure of the forces. France has retained its stance in rejecting the legitimacy of the coup leaders, as President Macron said “[o]ur policy is clear: we do not recognise the putschists”. Similar coups in neighbouring Mali in 2020 and Burkina Faso in 2022 also led to breakdowns in relations with their ex-coloniser France, with the country’s military forces expelled and long-standing agreements broken. 

France has historically supported Niger as one of its 19 priority countries for development assistance, including a pledge of €400 million to Niger for the 2017-2021 period, and has a history of cooperation with Niger on security and defence issues which seeks “to strengthen Niger’s expertise in combating major crime (terrorism, various forms of trafficking)”, according to the French government. With the junta’s rejection of France and the wider West’s call to reinstate the ousted democratic government, and now its attempted expulsion of the ambassador, economic and military aid received by Niger looks likely to drastically decrease – an outcome which would exacerbate food insecurity, job losses, and jihadist attacks suffered by Niger’s civilian population.

However, as Niger turns away from its previous Western allies, it appears to have cultivated a new friendship with Russia. Shortly before his reported death earlier this week in a plane crash, the infamous leader of the Russian paramilitary Wagner group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, was alleged to have been in Niger lending support to the junta. Unverified videos and images on social media, allegedly from inside Niger, depict locals waving Russian flags and welcoming Russian troops. Loss of Western influence in Niger leaves space for Russia’s to grow, and this looks set to continue with suggestions that other Western embassies are unwelcome. The junta also ordered the ambassadors of the US and Germany to leave, before hastily retracting the order. 

It has now been over a month since the coup, and a humanitarian crisis is rapidly unfolding. Border closures and sanctions on the country by regional powers, including the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) bloc, have prevented vital supplies of food, medicine and humanitarian aid from entering the country. The World Food Programme noted a jump of 17% in the average price of rice in a country where more than 3.3 million were already considered “severely food insecure” before the coup. Emmanuel Gignac, the UN refugee Agency’s Niger representative said that a sharp increase in kidnapping, human trafficking and sexual violence has also been observed by the agency’s staff since the coup. Jihadist groups operating in the region have exploited the situation, conducting attacks on government forces that have left over 100 dead this month alone. 

As the coup enters its second month, the implications for food scarcity and reduced security and defence capabilities against jihadist insurgencies are likely to become severe. The country, once perceived as a mainstay of democracy in West and Central Africa, is now threatened with the prospect of military intervention from its previous allies in ECOWAS. Such military intervention would likely escalate and draw in regional and global allies – the West on the side of ECOWAS and the military governments in Mali and Burkina Faso supporting Niger’s coup leadership – and would undoubtedly result in widspread bloodshed, humanitarian crises, and economic instability.

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