🇮🇷🇳🇪 Iran and Niger sign economic and health cooperation agreements

Iran and Niger have taken a step forward in strengthening their bilateral relations with the signing of two agreements focused on economic, political, and health sector cooperation. The documents were signed during a high-profile ceremony in Tehran.

Sides also signed agreements on energy and counter-terrorism.

The ceremony featured key officials from both nations, including Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber and Niger’s Prime Minister Ali Lamine Zeine.

Mokhber said expanding ties with African states, particularly Niger, is a strategic focus of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s administration. He expressed satisfaction with the progress made toward reopening Niger’s embassy in Tehran, viewing it as a catalyst for further enhancing the countries’ relationship.

#Iran #Niger

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🇧🇫🇲🇱🇳🇪 ECOWAS urges Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger to prioritise dialogue and reconciliation

ECOWAS is urging Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger to prioritise dialogue and reconciliation amidst concerns of potential exits from the community.

The regional body which took this position at the conclusion of its extraordinary session on February 8, 2024, stressed the critical need for diplomacy and unity in the face of regional challenges.

At the conclusion of the session, Nigeria's Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Chair of the Mediation and Security Council, Yusuf Tuggar, said the decision of Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mail to withdraw from the community has presented yet another challenge, however, members are heartened by the spirit of cooperation to resolve this challenge.

He added that “We must carry forward the momentum generated in this session and continue our efforts to engage with the concerned member states in the spirit of understanding and reconciliation”.

#ECOWAS #BurkinaFaso #Mali #Niger

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🇳🇪🇧🇯 Niger's First Oil Reaches Benin

A quite significant event has occurred in the Sahel region - the construction of the pipeline between Niger and Benin has finally been completed. The US and ECOWAS actively threatened the Nigerien junta with sanctions over this project.

However, contrary to the unsubstantiated claims of Western media, the Niger-Benin oil pipeline has not only been built, but has also been successfully put into operation. Oil from the Agadez field has reached Seme-Kraké in Benin, near the capital Cotonou.

▪️Currently, Niger is producing 20,000 barrels per day, with the mediation of the Chinese CNPC, with whom a new export contract was recently signed.

▪️According to plans, by 2026 Niger will be producing 200,000 barrels per day, making it one of the largest oil exporters in Africa.

▪️For Benin, this pipeline is important, as it is planned to create about 2,000 new jobs for its maintenance. In addition, the Nigerien authorities will pay transit fees for access to Benin's ports.

The commissioning of the pipeline and the supply of oil through it indicates the final settlement of the crisis in relations between Niamey and ECOWAS.

🔻 And all the past threats against the current Nigerien authorities have remained just threats: there was no invasion of Niger, nor a global economic crisis due to the imposed sanctions.

Against the backdrop of deteriorating security situation in Benin, one can expect an intensification of military cooperation, for example, in joint border patrols.

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#Africa #Benin #Niger
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🇲🇱🇧🇫🇳🇪 How the first summit of the Sahel States Alliance went

On July 6, the first summit of the Sahel States Alliance, which unites the anti-Western governments of West Africa, was held in the capital of Niger, Niamey. As a result, steps were taken to create a confederation of the three countries and continue the integration processes.

Earlier, the leaders of the three countries agreed to create a united group of troops to fight terrorism, which they later reinforced with joint cross-border operations. The success in the military sphere was also confirmed at the summit by the intention to create a unified security policy.

❗️Now their most important task is to ensure economic sovereignty.

Serious steps have been taken in this direction: following the summit, a joint investment bank was created. The heads of the three states also reinforced their separation from ECOWAS, despite statements by the President of Senegal to the contrary. Most likely, this is how they announced their course towards abandoning the CFA franc.

There were also intentions to coordinate diplomatic steps and create a single space for the movement of goods and people.

Following the summit, the President of Mali, Assimi Goïta, was elected as the head of the Sahel States Alliance for one year.

🔻In this example, we can see how, with the mediation of Russian military and political specialists, the Sahel countries have embarked on the path of genuine economic sovereignty with the support of Moscow.

At the same time, seeing such determination of the local governments, we should also conduct a more active economic policy in the region with the involvement of Russian business. Because, despite all our military successes, important economic projects still, for some reason, go to the Anglo-Saxons.
#Africa #BurkinaFaso #Mali #Niger
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🇳🇪 Situation in Niger: Intensification of Counter-Terrorism Activities

Summary for July 21 - August 21, 2024

The positive trend aimed at destroying cells of terrorist organizations on the territory of the country continues.

▪️Along the Malian border, the armed forces conducted an operation to free hostages from the captivity of the local branch of the "Islamic State", involving about a thousand troops. After the hostages began to be evacuated, the convoy was ambushed by terrorists, resulting in about 30 casualties.

At the same time, thanks to aerial reconnaissance near the city of Bankilaré, a large concentration of militants was destroyed using drones. As a result, about a dozen extremists were neutralized.

▪️Further south on the border with Burkina Faso, where JNIM militants linked to Al-Qaeda are entrenched, terrorist detachments from where they sometimes arrive were also eliminated. More than 20 radicals were eliminated in the local forests.

After the summit of the Sahel States Alliance, which decided to create a confederation, there is a solidarity between the foreign policy departments of Ouagadougou, Bamako and Niamey. After support from Kyiv for the attacks by Islamists on Tin-Zaouatine, all three countries severed ties with it, calling on the UN to condemn the actions of the Ukrainian leadership.

In addition, ties with the Algerian authorities have also strengthened. The ministers are actively discussing security and economic integration issues.

🔻We emphasize once again that the pragmatic authorities of Niamey maneuver between the interests of many countries, but remain committed to the course of sovereignty with Russian support. And the support of the African Corps allows for large-scale counter-terrorist operations, which has a positive impact on the situation within the country.

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#Africa #Niger #Sahel #map
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🇫🇷🇳🇪 French nuclear giant slips into the red following Niger-French breakup

French nuclear giant Orano ended the first half of the year with a loss of €133 million, weighed down by difficulties in its mining activities in Niger due to a "highly degraded" political context since a military regime came to power a year ago.

The coup in Niger on 26 July last year led to a halt in imports of critical materials necessary for uranium exploitation in Orano's Somaïr mine, such as soda ash, carbonate, nitrates and sulphur.

And although uranium extraction continued in the first quarter of 2024 "after several months of early maintenance," Somaïr’s sales were unable to resume "due to a lack of logistics solutions approved by the Niger authorities".

In late June, Niger decided to withdraw the licence of Imouraren SA, a company jointly operated by Orano, Niger Mining and Korea Electric Power, and which ran the Somaïr mine.

The situation could eventually lead to "insolvency in the short to medium term, in the coming months", Claverie said.

#France #Niger

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🇳🇪🇩🇪 German troops to leave Niger

German troops leave Niger. On August 30, Niger's chief of land forces Mamane Sani Kiau and Colonel Struss Karsten of Germany signed an agreement to hand over Air Base 101 to the West African country's armed forces.

"Today's ceremony marks the final withdrawal of German troops from Niger and the closure and handover of their facility," said one member of the withdrawal committee.

#Niger #Germany

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🇳🇪 US military says it completes Niger withdrawal

The U.S. military said on Monday it had completed its withdrawal from Niger.

The West African nation's ruling junta in April ordered the U.S. to withdraw its nearly 1,000 military personnel from the country, in an embarrassing setback for Washington that followed a coup last year in the West African nation. Before that, Niger had been a key military partner for the U.S. in the region.

The U.S. withdrawal from Niger was carried out in phases, with U.S. forces and assets withdrawing from Air Base 101 in Niamey on July 7, and Air Base 201 in Agadez on Aug. 5. The U.S. military said on Monday the U.S. Africa Command Coordination Element, consisting of a two-star general and staff, has also departed from Niger, and that the withdrawal was complete by a Sept. 15 deadline.

#Niger

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🇳🇪🇲🇱🇧🇫 West Africa bloc offers junta-led states six months to rethink exit

Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger will have a six-month grace period after their scheduled exit from West Africa's main political and economic group next month during which the ECOWAS bloc will try to persuade them to stay.

The summit of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was seen as a chance to address the impending withdrawal of the three countries on Jan. 29, a year after they jointly announced they would leave in a reversal of decades of regional integration.

ECOWAS has so far failed in its goal to push them to reconsider, while the three countries in the insurgency-torn central Sahel region have set up their own alliance, sought ever-closer alignment in defence and other areas and mooted abandoning the West African currency union.

While Jan. 29 remains the official withdrawal date, the effective date for their departure has been extended to July 29 - a transition period during which mediators from the bloc will seek "to bring the three member countries back to ECOWAS without prejudice," commission president Oumar Touray said at the end of the summit.

#ECOWAS #Mali #BurkinaFaso #Niger

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