Niger coup: Where to now for European diplomacy?

By PHILIPP SANDNER

WASHINGTON: There was a time when Niger, an important country of transit for people wanting to reach Europe, seemed to be the perfect partner for Germany. After former German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited in 2016, Mahamadou Issoufou, who was president of Niger until 2021, intensified efforts to seal off one of the main migration routes through the Sahara.

The country’s strategic location was also seen as important for tackling the growing threat from extremists in neighboring Mali in particular, and preventing the expansion of the Islamist militant group, Boko Haram. Continued good relationships seemed to be assured when Issoufou handed power over to his elected successor, Mohamed Bazoum, in 2021.

The peaceful transfer of power took place just months after the military in neighboring Mali launched a coup. Mali went on to distance itself from its former Western partners. The following year, a coup was also launched in Burkina Faso, to Mali’s south. Former colonial power France and other European states, including Germany, started to deploy military units to Niger and set up training missions there.

There was an atmosphere of mutual respect. When German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Niger in May 2022, he insisted that the country “counts a lot for us.” “Across multiple domains, Niger was actually a very good choice,” said Ovigwe Eguegu, a policy analyst at the international consultancy Development Reimagined. “It just so happened that disgruntled and ambitious military officers took advantage of the opportunity and weakness of the Nigerien state for their power grab.”

The coup in Niger took place on July 26 and President Bazoum was detained. The country’s new rulers, under self-proclaimed leader General Abdourahamane Tiani, now also want to distance themselves from France. A delegation of the Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS, to which Niger belongs, recently left the country without being able to meet Tiani. Observers fear the situation could escalate as the West African bloc has condemned the coup and is not expected to accept the new junta. Many Western countries have already begun to evacuate their citizens.

The first reaction of the West was also to condemn the coup. Germany, France and the European Union have suspended development aid and budget support to Niger.

But in the country’s capital Niamey, demonstrators have expressed their support for those behind the coup and there have been protests in front of the French embassy. Several thousand French troops are stationed in Niger still. France has strong economic interests in Niger, from which it exports uranium.

There were reports in the media that the demonstrations were quelled with tear gas.

“Of course, anti-French resentment is a major problem for the reputation of the entire West in the Sahel,” said Matthias Basedau, director of the GIGA Institute for African Studies in Hamburg. He said that the resentment, which was partially justified, was being fuelled by Russia, which had expanded its influence in Mali and Burkina Faso.

But Germany did not have the same problem as France, he noted. It “doesn’t have these spheres of influence and interests in Africa, and that’s why it’s always been relatively well regarded,” he explained, saying that Germany’s formula had been to cooperate intensively on development and to provide money without imposing that many political conditions.