Russia eyes Niger's uranium mines as West African nation ditches France
Since the 2023 military coup, Niger has pivoted away from France and Western allies toward Russia.
Niger's military government is locked in a standoff with Orano, the French state-owned nuclear group.
Russia wishes to mine uranium in Niger, a top source of the radioactive metal ruled by a military junta friendly to the Kremlin, Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilev has said.
Since the junta took power in a 2023 coup, Niger has turned to Russia, which commands the world's largest arsenal of atomic weapons, for help in fighting the west African country's jihadist insurgency.
Arguing that Niger should benefit more from being the world's seventh-largest producer of uranium, the junta has also insisted on greater control over its natural resources.
That policy has led to tensions with former colonial ruler France, whose nuclear power plants have long relied on uranium extracted from Niger.
While on an official visit to the capital Niamey on Monday, Tsivilev met Niger's junta chief, General Abdourahamane Tiani, to talk about the two countries' burgeoning economic cooperation.
'Our main goal is to mine uranium,' Tsivilev said after meeting the general.
'Our task is not only to participate in uranium mining, but to create an entire system for the development of civil nuclear power in Niger,' the energy minister is quoted as saying in an official Russian statement.
Mining stand-off
During the visit, Russia's atomic agency Rosatom and Niger's energy ministry signed a memorandum of understanding on civilian uses for nuclear power, according to the statement.
Among others, Tsivilev pointed to the construction of atomic power plants, advances in nuclear medicine and the training of Nigerien specialists in those fields.
Like its fellow junta-run allies in Burkina Faso and Mali, Niger has pivoted away from France and the West in favour of closer cooperation with Russia.
As a result of its insistence on exercising more control over Niger's natural resources, the junta is currently locked in a stand-off with the Orano nuclear group, which is 90% owned by the French state.
In 2024, Niger removed Orano's operational control of its three main mines in the country - Somair, Cominak and Imouraren - which the Paris-based company has attempted to win back through arbitration.
The Imouraren mine is home to one of the largest deposits of uranium in the world.
In June the ruling junta announced it would nationalise the Somair mine, in a move Orano slammed as 'asset stripping'.
There was no indication from Monday's meeting that any of Orano's Nigerien mines would be turned over to Russia.
When contacted by AFP, the Paris-based miner did not wish to comment on the prospect of Moscow mining uranium in Niger.
Uranium was first discovered in the country in 1957 while under French rule, with mining beginning in 1971.
Niger produced 3 527 tonnes of the radioactive metal in 2023, equal to 6.3% of global production, according to mining industry publication Globaldata.
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