It was exactly 6.23 am this Saturday when I casually engaged a cerebral friend of mine on WhatsApp.

That decision to engage was a mistake on my part.

I say it was a mistake because I was billed to start my every Saturday 20km walk at exactly 6.30 am and one-half hours later, I haven’t left my laptop.

I have researched and written what has now essentially become this short article – Part 2 of yesterday’s piece on How Nations Become Powerful and I have captioned this Part 2: On Niger’s Uranium, Lions and Sheep.

I opened this piece with the same quote I opened Part 1 with – the wise words of Tywin Lannister – The Great Lion on the Rock; Lord of Casterly Rock; Head of House Lannister; and Father of Queen Cercei, Queen of the Andals & the First Men: “A Lion Doesn’t Concern Itself with the Opinion of Sheep”

By 6.43 am, I was still chatting with my friend when he dropped the bomb that changed my entire morning.

Speaking of the Republic of Niger, Uche Egwu Esq, a well-travelled Attorney who happens to be a polyglot and a very independent thinker, said, “That’s why America and their allies have military bases there. And those coup guys don’t dare approach those mines”

I stopped dead in my tracks and my head raced in a million different directions at same time.

I immediately articulated and shared some of the questions that popped into my head with a group of 45 fun-loving intellectuals that I associate with.

I hoped they would provide enquiry and resistance that would motivate my research. They didn’t fail.

Here are the questions:

• Are there still US troops in Niger?
• If yes, why are they quiet?
• And why is there no confrontation between them and the coup leaders?
• Where are the US troops?
• What are they doing wherever they are?
• And who is in control of Niger’s Uranium mines?

Here’s the outcome of my research

A few days ago on Tuesday the 8th of August 2023, Ms Sabrina Singh, the spokeswoman of the US Defence Department, in response to a question on US troops in Niger said,

• “We are going to continue to engage from a military standpoint. I think the fact that our force posture has not changed sends a message that we’re committed to the region, we’re committed to Niger.”

Further asked why the US is not pulling its troops from Niger, she continued,

• “We will not abandon Nigeriens that we’ve partnered with that, we’ve trained with over many years. Niger is, of course, an important ally within the region when it comes to counterterrorism and other operations”

So, long and short of it? There are still US troops in Niger.

Some 1,100 of them. And that is the uniformed ones.

They are stationed in the Agadez Region in North Central Niger about 850km from the capital Niamey

They have a Military base there manned by soldiers and civilians. The number of American civilians there has never been released (you will see why this is important shortly)

They also have a Drone Base there. Operating out of the Arlit Airport.

Now, Arlit is a small town of a little over 100,000 people situated in Agadez Region. And the Arlit Airport is a small commercial airport that has largely been taken over by the US.

For a small commercial airport in a small town, Arlit sure sees a lot of planes. Many of them Cargo Planes.

Back to the Drone Base. The Drone Base in the Arlit Airport is officially run by the US Airforce, but in reality, it’s run by civilians. Civilians that work for an organization known as the CIA.

What are they doing there?

• “To assist American and Nigerien forces in counter-terrorism operations, monitor routes used by militants in Niger into neighbouring nations, and assist ongoing operations in Libya”

Quite incidentally, Niger’s Uranium happens to be found mainly in the twin adjoining towns of Arlit and Akokan in same Agadez Region. Here you would find Africa’s largest deposits of Uranium.

With an annual production of 3,000 tonnes, Niger is the 4th largest producer of Uranium on Earth. And their Uranium happens to be the highest grade Uranium on planet Earth.

According to the UNDP, Niger’s Human Development Index (HDI), is currently 0.4. Up from 0.27 twenty-three years ago.

This means that, for most of the last 23 years, Niger has been the poorest nation on planet Earth. Overtaken only by Chad and South Sudan in the last 3 years.

Outside of capital Niamey, Niger has experienced considerable development with Road Construction. Many kilometres of roads have been built.

Incidentally, most of these roads lead to Arlit. To Arlit Airport to be precise and they are mainly from small towns like Tahoua.

Incidentally again, Tahoua and other similar small towns with road networks to Arlit Airport are all Uranium mining towns.

Meanwhile, according to WorldData, Niger’s network of roads and highways has a total length of 18,949 km. For each of the country’s 26.21 million inhabitants, this corresponds to 0.72 meters.

This puts Niger in 217th place in the global ranking. Put simply, Niger is one of the road-poorest nations on earth. But it has managed to build many hundreds of kilometres of new and good roads to Arlit Airport.

Niger is also one of the electricity-poorest nations on earth. They rank 7th. But Uranium from Niger still manages to power one in every three light bulbs in France.

Incidentally once again, a good portion of the electricity outside of capital Niamey is concentrated on powering the areas between Arlit and small Uranium mining towns like Tahoua.

Life expectancy in Niger is a mere 45 years old. And if reading were required to save lives, 71% of Nigeriens would be dead, as 71% of them can neither read nor write. And that right there, is the literal definition of Illiteracy.

In 2015, Niger was ranked the Most Illiterate Country on planet Earth with a rating of 19.1%. The runner-up behind Niger in this inglorious ranking had a rating of 30.47%. While the top nations, Finland and Norway, each rated 100%.

The 2 major Uranium mining companies in Niger are Somair and Cominak. Between them, they mine over 90% of Niger’s Uranium and they have been doing that since Niger gained its independence from France in August of 1960. Both companies are owned by another company named, Areva.

On the 23rd of January 2018, Areva rebranded itself to Orano but still maintained ownership of 60% of Somair and 64% of Cominak.

Speaking of the rebranding, Chief Executive, Philippe Knoche said,

• “We had to change our name – we are a new company with a different perimeter, focused on the fuel cycle”

Others have suggested the rebranding exercise had other goals.

On 16 February 2017, the “Uranium Gate scandal” broke out, causing the French group Areva to lose $101 million on the sale of a uranium stockpile.

Through Russian and Lebanese intermediaries, millions in retro commissions were paid out to several “agents” including Nigeriens.

AREVA’s headquarters were searched in Paris in November of 2017 by the French National Financial Prosecutor’s Office, and a judicial enquiry opened on “bribery of foreign public officials, private corruption, criminal conspiracy” concerning this sale of Uranium from Niger.

Only 2 months after, Areva rebranded to Orano. Some schools of thought say the rebranding was related to this Uranium Gate Scandal. Nothing ever came of the Judicial Enquiry.

Keep somewhere at the back of your mind that Areva was an SOE (State Owned Enterprise). And so is Orano. This means that they are officially owned by the State and Government of France.

Back to their operations in Niger. As a rule, Somair and Cominak do not disclose (and in 63 years of operation, have never disclosed), their payment to the government of Niger for extraction and export of Uranium. It’s a black-box operation. Total Black Box.

What is not Black Box however, is that under the terms of a decades-old agreement, Samair and Cominak are only required to pay 5.5% of revenues to the people and government of Niger and yes, that wasn’t a typo.

You read it right. 5.5%. (Five and one-half per cent). That’s all they pay to the Republic of Niger.

With all these stupendous profits being airlifted out of Arlit Airport, you may wanna ask yourself again:

What are US troops doing in Niger? And why are they quiet?

What type of air cover is the US Drone Base in Arlit Airport providing? And for who?

Does the new regime in Niamey control Arlit and Akokan? Or are Arlit and Akokan controlled by the US Airforce and the CIA? Who is currently in control of Niger’s Uranium deposits – Lion or Sheep?

If Lion is in control of Uranium deposits in Arlit, why has Niamey not moved on Arlit? Can Niamey be said to have control of the whole Niger presently?

If Lion is so interested in sustaining Democracy, why is Lion containing itself in Arlit while Democracy is being ‘assaulted’ in Niamey? Why has Lion not moved to Niamey?

Why does it appear Lion is instigating ECOWAS to move on fellow Sheep in Niamey?

What Lessons may hold from all these for Sheep?

Can Sheep become Lion?

I know I suggested I would provide answers. But here I am leaving you with more questions.

My sincere apologies.

“A Lion Doesn’t Concern Itself with the Opinion of Sheep”

Emeka Orjih.
Finance & Development Strategist.