Written by Michael Thervil
There are many things that are not being considered when it comes to the coup that is occurring not only in the country of Niger, but across the entire African region known as the “Sahel”. The Sahel spans from the furthest most western part of Africa from the Atlantic to the farthest east point of Africa which would be to the Gulf of Aden which runs out to the Arabian ocean. Keep in mind that the Sahel consist of the following 13 countries:
Gambia
Mali
Senegal
Niger
Mauritania
Eritrea
Chad
Nigeria
Sudan
South Sudan
Cameroon
Burkina Faso
Central African Republic
But of the 13 countries listed here there are two countries that are of particular importance and that is Burkina Faso and Niger. Why? Because in the case of Niger, which was first in the headlines of the mainstream media in the United States, the Military Commander General Abdourahmane Tchiani who has given up his entire military salary to head the nation's military coup against the Niger President Mohamed Bazoum. To date this is Niger’s 7th coup in the history of the country and there’s a very good reason for that.
It is significant because this military coup was executed unexpectedly on the world stage. The world did not expect this, especially during the Ukraine-Russia war, and even more importantly France didn’t and couldn’t see this military coup coming. Why? Because France thought they had the country of Niger in check which is the source of the military coup in Niger. When France discovered the vast amount of uranium resources in Niger back in 1957, three years before Niger gained its independence from the colonization of France; France has been exploiting the country of Niger for that resource ever since.
The exploitation of Niger by France occurred because France brough off the country’s leadership; from the past presidents and military leaders by France being allowed to establish both legitimate and shell companies in Niger which provided the African country’s leadership with kickbacks and lavish lifestyles. Another aspect of the exploitation of Niger was due to France owning over 60% of the natural occurring resource of uranium in the country. With that percentage it made France heavily dependent on uranium as a cheap fuel and energy resource for its country. Even more than that France would export the sale of Niger uranium at a higher cost to other countries resulting in doubling if not tripling its profits margins.
This is the source of nearly all the coups that have occurred in Niger throughout its independence from France. It was estimated that France would sell both Burkina Faso and Niger and uranium on the open market for $238 or more per pound of uranium while the workers would make $11 out of that on the market. To date it is estimated that at least 30,000 tons of uranium was extracted from Niger alone, which resulted in France making roughly over 7 billion dollars in profit. Even though President Mohamed Bazoum was considered to be “democratically elected” with over 55% of the population vote, it would seem that the people of Niger have been dealing with buyers’ remorse for quite some time.
The question that is on everyone's minds is who or which companies besides French President Macron financially backs President Mohamed Bazoum. It’s a valid question because political elections in any country aren’t cheap. In fact, if you know anything about geopolitics, you will know that political candidates are nearly always receiving “campaign contributions”. Currently, we were not able to locate the source of President Mohamed Bazoum's financial backing and donor obligations. But what we do know is that the national security interest, threats and concerns that France is expressing are solely connected to the uranium in Niger (primarily) and Burkina Faso (secondary).
With that being said, the claim of the Niger Military Commander Abdourahmane Tchiani is that President Mohamed Bazoum has committed high treason by purposely endangering the socio-economic, security and political interest of Niger. This claim comes during the time commander Abdourahmane Tchiani was abruptly dismissed from a cabinet meeting just prior to the current military coup. In terms of Burkina Faso, their issue doesn’t necessarily revolve around the exploitation of uranium. It revolves around their new political ties to North Korea. To be even more specific, the new political ties of Burkina Faso and North Korea revolve around their newly formed advanced weapons deal.
In the United States, North Korea has been the butt of many jokes concerning their weapon deployment capabilities. This is because the United States and the collective west tends to highlight North Korea’s failed state ran weapon systems exercises and military drills. However, North Korea is succeeding more than they are failing in current times in terms of weapons manufacturing. This would be due in part to Russia aiding North Korea in constructing better and more effective and efficient advanced weapon technologies such as ICBM’s (Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles).
Thus, Burkina Faso’s weapons deal with North Korea not only strengthens the political relationships of both countries; but it has the added benefit of expanding North Korea’s influence on the world stage specifically in the Sahel region in Africa. Adding insult to injury, the weapons deal between North Korea and Burkina Faso also strengthens North Korea’s gold reserves as it receives payment from Burkina Faso in the form of gold. This take away for Burkina Faso Is that this advanced weapons deal with North Korea allows Burkina Faso to preserve its independence from France by it being perceived as a potential nuclear power and retaining its natural resource of uranium from the exploitation of France.
There are several overlapping issues with all that is mentioned above. The Economic Community of West African States or “ECOWAS”, which is a territorial trade bloc that consist of the following 15 African countries:
Liberia
Benin
Nigeria
Togo
Cape Verde
Gambia
Guinea-Bissau
Senegal
Ivory coast
Niger (currently sanctioned)
Burkina Faso (currently sanctioned)
Ghana
Sierra Leone
Mali (currently sanctioned)
Guinea (currently sanctioned)
The job of ECOWAS is to promote solidarity between these trading agreements of these 15 countries that are being backed by the Collective West. With that ECOWAS is being pressured to engage in military intervention in both Niger and Burkina Faso via Nigeria. The best guess is that Nigeria does not want to get involved – even though the risk of the military coup in Niger spilling over their border and adversely influencing their population is moderately high.
It should be noted that recently as close as a few days ago, Niger Military Commander General Abdourahmane Tchiani stated that any military intervention by “ECOWAS” or any other foreign entity in the affairs of Niger will result in the immediate execution of the currently overthrown Niger President Mohamed Bazoum. With that being said, it’s very likely that ECOWAS will not make a move militarily towards Niger and neither will France – even though they too threatened to use military force via French Troops.
Russia is also currently indirectly involved via plausible deniability because Wagner Group which is a Russian Private Military Contractor that has boots on the ground in Niger based on the invite from Niger’s Military Commander whom of which will act on the behalf of Russia’s national interest just as much as it will act on its own. The United States has an interest there because they want to keep President Mohamed Bazoum in power so both the uranium and energy markets can not only remain stable, but so that they can ensure that Iran keeps its hands out of the uranium market in Niger and lastly so they can continue engaging in counter terrorism operations in the region (Operation Juniper Shield). If you don’t know what Operation Juniper Shield is, it’s an American operation that is attempting to stop the flow of arms and narcotics trafficking across the Sahel.
The irony is, America trained 5 of the top Niger Special Operation Members which includes Brigadier General Moussa Salaou Barmou in America at the National Defense University at Fort Benning. Brigadier General Moussa Salaou Barmou is currently the Chief of National Defense in Niger. This is why we have designated Niger as a multiverse of proxy wars; on one front you have a captured president who is seen as a puppet being exploited by France and controlled by the Collective West. The military coup in Niger is being politically and militarily supported by at least four countries in the Sahel region which includes Kenya, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Algeria who hate France due to historical reasons. On top of that you have the Russian Private Military Contractor Wagner group who was invited by Niger’s Military Commander who in turn has Russian plausible deniability.
Moreover, you have various extremist organizations that are running wild through the Sahel region such as IS (Islamic State), JAS, ISWA, Al-Qaeda, Al-Islam Wal Muslimeen and various other Extreme Islamist groups. There are also other African countries outside of the four we mentioned here that will be supporting Niger in the future. With that there is also North Korea operating in the area. Then there is the “silent dragon” China who has an interest in the region. And of course, there is NATO who can’t seem to keep helping but insert itself into this situation.
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