Tensions between the two countries increased on Thursday when the ruling junta militia in Niger revealed plans to nationalize Somair, a division of the French uranium corporation Orano.
In a statement broadcast on Niger’s national television, the junta declared, “Niger has decided, in all sovereignty, to nationalize Somair in response to the reckless, unlawful, and disloyal actions of Orano, a company owned by the French state, a state that is openly hostile to Niger.”
Following a crisis in 2023 when the military junta attempted a coup to seize control of Niger, the decision coincides with a widening gap between Paris and Niamey. France had consequently withdrawn its forces from the Sahelian country.
Why is a French-run business being nationalized by Niger?
63% of Somair is owned by Orano, which is 90% owned by the French government. The rest of the uranium venture is controlled by Niger’s state-run Sopamin.
After a coup in 2024 that resulted in a major increase in anti-French sentiment in the former French colony, Orano, which had been operating uranium mines in Niger for decades, was forced to leave three important mines.
Some of the biggest uranium reserves in the world are found in Niger.
Claiming that the state’s activities have been hurting the mine’s profitability, the French business has been using legal ways to restore operational control of Somair.
Source: DW News and other media outlets
