Niamey – Niger’s ruling military junta on Thursday announced that it was nationalising a unit of French uranium company Orano, the latest step in a deepening rift between Paris and Niamey.
Orano had already lost operational control of its Niger-based subsidiary Somair last year.
“Faced with the irresponsible, illegal and disloyal behavior of Orano, a company owned by the French state, a state openly hostile to Niger, Niger has decided, in all sovereignty, to nationalise Somair,” the Sahel nation’s national television announced.
Uranium mining in Niger is at the centre of a standoff between the junta that took power in 2023 and Orano, which is 90-percent owned by the French government and has operated mines in Niger for decades.
Since a military coup in 2023, Niger has turned its back on its former colonial power, which it accused of supporting separatist groups, and sought closer ties with Russia.
In 2024, Niger removed Orano’s operational control of its three main mines in the country: Somair, Cominak and Imouraren, which has one of the largest uranium deposits in the world.
BREAKING:
🇳🇪🇲🇫 Niger kicks French uranium mining companies out
The era of French companies sucking almost free uranium in Niger, while 70% of the population lived without electricity, is over.
The country revoked permission from the subsidiary of the French company Orano to… pic.twitter.com/ZONFPOZMsF
— Megatron (@Megatron_ron) June 21, 2024
Orano officially retains a 60 percent stake in the subsidiaries, and has undertaken various arbitration procedures to try to win back operational control.
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Source: AFP
