Niger Coup: The Pattern of Political Disposition in the Sahel Region
Following recent coup d’états in the Sahel region, the presidential guard of Niger detained President Mohamed Bazoum on the 26th July 2023 and commander general Abdourahamane Tchiani proclaimed himself the leader of a new military junta. The country’s military leaders have suspended the Constitution and dissolved state institutions as well as declaring a curfew and closing Niger’s borders. Since gaining independence from France in 1960, Niger has had four coups, including two previously against Bazoum.
Tchiani, the self-proclaimed leader of the new transitional government after the coup has stated that this intervention was necessary to avoid ‘the gradual and inevitable demise of the country,’ referring to the rise in insecurity and declining economic prospects under Bazoum’s democratically elected government. Despite the increase in foreign military forces, especially from the US and France, the leadership has been unable to stop insurgent terrorist attacks from Al-Qaeda and Islamic State affiliates. Such attacks have led to thousands of deaths and displacements in the last decade in Niger as well as Sahel neighbors including Burkina Faso and Mali.
A further driving factor of the cause of the coup is the growing presence of the large number of foreign military troops and bases in Niger, which the military has not received well. The country hosts a French military base and with it being one of the world’s biggest producers of uranium, France and other European countries have a keen interest in the country as the fuel is vital for the region’s nuclear power. With the colonial history between the two countries, both the military and citizens are opposed to France and their growing presence in the country with many declaring that the European country has ‘exploited all the riches of the country,’ causing the poorest Nigerians to go without three daily meals.’
This growing hostility towards the West since the coup has been evident with the display of Russian flags during a protest in the capital Niamey on Sunday and even an attack on the French embassy. Bazoum is a supporter of the West and has been accused of being a ‘puppet’ of France’s Emmanual Macron. With tensions growing between the East and the West due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, this is another example of the effects of the division between the two differing political landscapes.
The US, the UN and France have offered ‘unflagging support’ to the ousted leader and have threatened sanctions against General Tchiani’s military group. Macron has said that ‘the coup is completely illegitimate and profoundly dangerous’ and has called for Bazoum’s release and ‘the restoration of constitutional order.’ This evidence of further democratic backsliding in the Sahel region has prompted mounting concern from the Kenyan president William Ruto who called the army takeover ‘a serious setback for Africa.’
West African leaders will meet on Sunday in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria to discuss the coup. There have been calls for ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) to take a firm stance against military power seizures. The Council on Foreign Relations has been quick to remind recently elected Nigerian President Bola Tinubu and chairman of ECOWAS that the leading country ‘cannot allow its immediate neighbor to the north to once again fall under the sway of soldiers with no conception of modern governance.’
Since the coup, President Bazoum and his family have been held at their residence at the presidential palace located within the 700-strong presidential guard’s military camp. The overthrown leader was seen for the first time in a picture with Chad leader Mahamat Idriss Déby in Niamey.
Whilst Western powers see the Niger coup has further evidence of deepened instability across Sahel Africa regarding democracy, others believe that following along from the coups in Mali and Burkina Faso, African countries are finally deciding to cut ties with their former colonial leaders. Mali has recently dropped French as its official language and Niger has told French military troops to leave the region.
However, even though France’s quasi-empire is seeming to crumble in West Africa, Russia and China have been circling in which raises the question as to whether these African countries are truly seeking autonomy or switching their dependence to the other side of the political spectrum.