Níger

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President’s Take: Hot Spots Near and Far

The year 2023 has seen peace and security challenges both far from the EU’s borders and closer to home. The latter, especially, have heightened in recent weeks and months, which have seen fighting in the South Caucasus and Kosovo, even as a second year of war in Ukraine stretches on. While the three crises are very different in nature, all suggest a worrying inclination on the part of some governments to seek solutions to disputes through force of arms. Insofar as this jarring trend involves a proliferation of new wars, large and small, it flies in the face of the decades of energy that the EU has invested in turning the page on past conflagrations in Europe and its neighbourhood.…  Seguir leyendo »

Des partisans du Conseil national pour la sauvegarde de la patrie, désormais au pouvoir, Niamey le 10 septembre 2023. — © - / AFP

MundoÁfrica,

Au cours des années 1990-2010, l’Afrique de l’Ouest francophone avait connu une poussée démocratique dynamisée par l’appétence de la société civile, avec les cas, notamment, du Mali, du Burkina Faso ou du Niger. Certes, les soubresauts avaient été nombreux. Le Niger, par exemple, avait vu en 1993 se dérouler des élections présidentielles considérées comme régulières, avant que le régime de Mamadou Tanja ne s’accroche au pouvoir en truquant les élections de 1995. Le coup d’Etat de 1999, mené par une partie de l’armée, restaure provisoirement la démocratie. Mais en 2010, un nouveau coup d’Etat militaire met fin au pouvoir et restaure à nouveau la démocratie en organisant des élections régulières en 2011, mettant au pouvoir Mahamadou Issoufou, réélu en 2016 alors que l’opposition boycotte l’élection.…  Seguir leyendo »

Manifestación en apoyo de los golpistas y contra el Ejército francés, el pasado 2 de septiembre en Niamey, Níger.STRINGER (REUTERS)

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El golpe de Estado militar sufrido por el Gobierno constitucional de Níger el pasado 26 de julio a manos del autodenominado Consejo Nacional para la Protección de la Patria (CNSP), plantea complejos problemas sobre la legitimidad y la conveniencia del uso de la fuerza armada para restablecer el sistema democrático de ese país. La Comunidad Económica de Estados de África Occidental (Cedeao), integrada por 15 países, entre ellos la República de Níger, ha exigido reiteradamente el restablecimiento del orden constitucional, la liberación del presidente Mohamed Bazoum y su familia y de los miembros del Gobierno detenidos ilegalmente. La Cedeao, al rechazar los golpistas toda solución pacífica y diplomática, ha amenazado con usar la fuerza armada militar si es necesario.…  Seguir leyendo »

A supporter of Niger’s coup holding a sign reading “knock down France” in Niamey, Niger, August 2023. Mahamadou Hamidou / Reuters

MundoÁfrica,

After a group of senior military officers overthrew Niger’s democratically elected president in July, the embattled (but then still alive) Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin likened the coup to a second independence for the West African country. “What happened in Niger is nothing other than the struggle of the people of Niger with their colonizers”, he said in a voice message posted to Telegram. “With colonizers who are trying to foist their rules of life on [Nigeriens] and their conditions and keep them in the state that Africa was in hundreds of years ago”.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Prigozhin’s take on the putsch contrasted sharply with that of most African leaders, North American and European governments, the European Union, and the Economic Community of West African States, all of which harshly condemned the military takeover.…  Seguir leyendo »

Coup leaders in Niamey, Niger, August 2023. Mahamadou Hamidou / Reuters

MundoÁfrica, ,

On July 26, Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum was detained at his home by his own presidential security force. Within 48 hours, the chief of Bazoum’s guard, General Abdourahmane Tchiani, had secured support from the military and named himself the head of a transitional government. As of late August, Bazoum is apparently still stuck in his presidential palace while France and a bloc of West African states are preparing for a military intervention. Tchiani has dug in, warning that any foreign attempt to reverse his takeover will be no “walk in the park”.

Coups in Niger are a relatively routine affair, a largely bloodless reshuffling of elites in the capital.…  Seguir leyendo »

A street vendor pushes his cart past burned cars outside the headquarters of president Bazoum's Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism in Niamey on August 7, 2023. (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

MundoÁfrica,

On the morning of 26 July, soldiers loyal to General Abdourahamane Tiani detained Niger’s president, Mohamed Bazoum. That night they declared a full military takeover by the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP).

A three-week barrage of international condemnation and economic sanctions has failed to crack their determination to hold on to power.

The coup presents a challenge that extends far beyond Niger. The stakes are high for West Africa, a region that has seen six coups in three years, as an emergent ‘putschist-populist’ politics threatens hard-won democratic progress.

No compromise in sight

The CNSP have tried to force Bazoum into resigning in the hope of rebranding themselves as pragmatic managers of a political transition.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoÁfrica,

El golpe de Estado en Níger es el síntoma de una crisis estructural muy profunda, fruto de una doble insostenibilidad. En primer lugar, los efectos del cambio climático y la desertización del Sahel. Níger abarca 1,2 millones de kilómetros cuadrados -más que España, Francia y Portugal juntas-, pero únicamente la ribera del río Níger -menos del 4% del territorio- es apta para la agricultura. Si ese pequeño porcentaje se pierde -y se está perdiendo-, se acabó el país. En segundo lugar, el disparatado crecimiento demográfico. En 1960, año de la independencia, los nigerinos eran tan solo tres millones. En la actualidad son más de 24 millones.…  Seguir leyendo »

Helicóptero del ejército francés de patrulla por una zona desértica antes de abandonar Malí. AFP

MundoÁfrica, ,

África es diversa y compleja, geográfica y también social y culturalmente. La existencia de conflictos en el continente tiene una larga historia y causas antiguas, como las étnicas o la rivalidad entre quienes cultivan tierras y quienes se dedican al pastoreo. Lo que es preocupante es el despertar de conflictos por causas nuevas y en caldos de cultivo que los alimentan y los enquistan. La competición por recursos energéticos, minerales preciosos y tierras raras, la variación en el uso de grandes extensiones de terreno vendidos a actores no estatales, su impacto negativo en el equilibrio hídrico de regiones geopolíticas enteras, la competición por acaparar tráficos ilícitos lucrativos y el terrorismo yihadista son parte de una lista que cada vez se va ampliando más.…  Seguir leyendo »

Des milliers de partisans des putschistes manifestent aux environs d’une base militaire française, en périphérie de la capitale nigérienne. Agence France-Presse.

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Depuis 2020, au moins cinq coups d’État militaires ont été réussis dans la Communauté économique des États de l’Afrique de l’Ouest (CEDEAO). Bien que chacun d’entre eux soit arrivé dans un contexte différent, les renversements de l’ordre au Mali, au Burkina Faso et au Niger ont un but en commun : remplacer les partenaires qui sont des pays occidentaux, principalement la France, par la Russie et sa milice Wagner.

Trop souvent, les médias étrangers surestiment la perspective occidentale. En effet, mis à part les pays africains frappés, l’État perçu comme étant le plus affecté par ces coups d’État militaires est la France.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoÁfricaEuropa, , ,

The United States needs to get way more proactive way more quickly in what is rapidly morphing into a huge crisis in the heart of Africa. Two weeks ago, a military junta suddenly deposed Niger’s pro-American, democratically elected president. The outcome of this coup could set the direction for years to come in a region that is home to critical raw materials, a base for jihadists driven from the Middle East and a source of strategic benefits for Russia.

This latest challenge to democracy in Africa presents an opportunity for Russia to expand its control over the region via its Wagner mercenary group.…  Seguir leyendo »

Mohamed Toumba, one of the leading figures of the National Council for the Protection of the Fatherland, attends a demonstration of coup supporters in Niamey, Niger on Aug. 6. Balima Boureima/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

MundoÁfrica,

The capture of political power by Niger’s military junta has triggered speculation about the possibility of a regional military intervention. Niger is a landlocked West African country that remains one of the poorest in the world; it also faces a growing threat, particularly in its Tillabéri region, from violent extremist groups such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State in the West African Province (ISWAP), which have caused many deaths and mass displacement.

The putschists in Niger, led by Gen. Abdourahamane Tchiani, have capitalized on this insecurity in their bid to justify their illegal, unconstitutional overthrow of Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum’s government, which was barely three years old.…  Seguir leyendo »

Cars torched during anti-government protests sit in front of the headquarters of the Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism in Niamey, Niger, on July 29. (Issifou Djibo/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)

MundoÁfrica,

I write this as a hostage. Niger is under attack from a military junta that is trying to overthrow our democracy, and I am just one of hundreds of citizens who have been arbitrarily and illegally imprisoned. This coup, launched against my government by a faction in the military on July 26, has no justification whatsoever. If it succeeds, it will have devastating consequences for our country, our region and the entire world.

Our government came to power through a democratic election in 2021. Any attempt to overthrow a lawful government must be opposed, and we appreciate the strong and unequivocal condemnations of this cynical effort to undermine the remarkable progress Niger has made under democracy.…  Seguir leyendo »

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Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger show no signs of beating back stubborn Islamist insurgencies. Western leaders, whose military involvement over the past decade has done little to stem violence, seem at a loss at how to respond to coups in Burkina Faso and Mali.

Burkina Faso is in the direst straits. Jihadi groups control an estimated 40 percent of its territory, including vast rural areas in the north and east. Militants have laid siege to a major northern town, Djibo, for months. Fighting has killed thousands of people and driven nearly 2 million from their homes. As the losses mount, so does finger-pointing within the army.…  Seguir leyendo »

Niger National Guard at the entrance of Tillaberi région in June. © Colin Delfosse

MundoÁfrica

Standing in a landscape of sand and scrub that rolls to the horizon, General Mahamadou Abou Tarka dabs sweat from his forehead and points north to Niger’s frontier with Mali and west to Burkina Faso.

“There’s a vacuum on the other side”, he says, referring to the lawless regions in the countries abutting Niger’s restive Tillabéri region. Across the invisible border, the Malian and Burkinabe states barely function, the general says. Swaths of territory have been overrun by terrorists affiliated with al-Qaeda and Islamic State.

“Mali is a failed state. Burkina is failing”, says Abou Tarka who, as head of Niger’s High Authority for the Consolidation of Peace, advises his civilian government on the fight against a hydra-headed terrorist threat, much of it spilling over hundreds of miles of unpoliced frontier.…  Seguir leyendo »

An ex-combatant leans against a window of a dormitory room at an internment camp for ex-Boko Haram fighters, in Goudoumaria, Niger, in August 2018. (Jane Hahn/For The Washington Post)

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My last international trip before the covid-19 lockdown was to Nigeria’s neighbor Chad. It wasn’t my first visit to the north-central African nation of some 16 million, which ranks last on the World Bank’s Human Capital Index, but it was unique. I ventured to the Lac region, the country’s principal agricultural region, an area impoverished by climate change, corruption, diseases, dictatorship — and now, the militant group Boko Haram. Having monitored the advent and transformation of Boko Haram in Nigeria, I knew that the group had inflicted substantial damage across the Lake Chad region, but I wanted to see and feel the situation for myself.…  Seguir leyendo »

Burkina Faso et Niger des élections à l’épreuve des insurrections

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Dans quel contexte politique s’inscrivent ces élections?

Le Burkina Faso et le Niger, deux pays cruciaux pour la stabilité du Sahel central, se dirigent vers des élections présidentielles et législatives, respectivement les 22 novembre et 27 décembre 2020, alors que la sous-région traverse une période d’instabilité politique – marquée notamment par le coup d’État au Mali – et de violences insurrectionnelles. Si le vote devrait avoir lieu sans trop d’accrocs dans les capitales, il sera très certainement perturbé dans certaines zones rurales où la tenue des scrutins s’inscrit dans un contexte de tensions socioéconomiques et politiques et d’insécurité chronique. Les favoris des scrutins, le président burkinabè sortant Roch Marc Christian Kaboré et l’ancien ministre nigérien de l’Intérieur Bazoum Mohamed, semblent vouloir continuer à donner la priorité aux réponses sécuritaires.…  Seguir leyendo »

Prime Minister of Niger, Brigi Rafini (C), wearing a protective mask, visits a unit at the Seyni Kountche stadium in Niamey, Niger, on April 17, 2020, during the novel coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak's lockdown. Nicolas Réméné / AFP

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Au Niger, le gouvernement continue de lutter contre le virus Covid-19 mais certaines mesures prises pour contenir sa propagation suscitent le mécontentement voire le rejet d’une frange de la population. Alors que les Nigériens semblent s’accommoder de la plupart des restrictions, celles liées à la fermeture des mosquées et à la suspension des prières collectives, au nom des règles de distanciation sociale, alimentent une contestation de plus en plus importante. Dans ce pays où 98 pour cent de la population est de confession musulmane, de violentes manifestations ont eu lieu dans plusieurs localités pour dénoncer ces mesures que certains jugent contraires à la doctrine islamique.…  Seguir leyendo »

Graph shows the number of protests and riots in Niger between 1997 and 2017. Source: Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED)

MundoÁfrica

On March 11, thousands of protesters descended on Niamey, the capital of Niger. Civil society leaders organized the march to denounce a new finance law they deemed “antisocial” for imposing taxes that they feared would raise living costs for citizens, while subsidizing the country’s utilities companies. Since October, opponents and supporters of the law have taken to the streets.

The official purpose of the law was to increase the taxation rate in order to satisfy criteria for membership in the West African Economic Monetary Union.

But this was just the latest sign of unrest in Niger, where protests have spiked in frequency over the past several years, as the chart below shows.…  Seguir leyendo »

Nigerien service members react to contact during Exercise Flintlock 2017 in Diffa including African, European and North American Special Operations Forces, Niger, March 2017. Zayid Ballesteros (The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.)

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What happened and where?

According to U.S. and Nigerien security sources, on 4 October 2017 a mixed patrol of U.S. and Nigerien special forces was ambushed near Tongo Tongo, a village located in the Tillabery region (about 120km north of the capital, Niamey), a few kilometres from the border with Mali. The precise death toll is still uncertain but at least five Nigerien and three U.S. soldiers were killed. Several others are wounded or missing, and Nigerien sources say the patrol’s vehicles were looted or destroyed.

The patrol may have been attacked by jihadists operating in the region, but there was no early claim of responsibility and what happened may only become clear over time.…  Seguir leyendo »

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One of the world’s worst humanitarian crises is unfolding in West Africa’s Lake Chad region, where 11 million people are in urgent need of emergency aid.

Nigeria, its neighbours, and the world are struggling to find an adequate response. Failure to do so will condemn millions to more suffering, and raise the region’s vulnerability to violent extremism.

Donors meeting at the Oslo Humanitarian Conference on Nigeria and the Lake Chad region on Friday must seize the opportunity to act more effectively.

Up to 100,000 people may have died in the seven-year Boko Haram insurgency, according to Governor Kassim Shettima of Borno State in Nigeria’s northeast, the epicentre of the fighting.…  Seguir leyendo »