Thread by @dialectichiphop

There's a lot to the coup which has unfolded in Niger, I'll try my best to break it down here in the following thread:

You have to begin by understanding that Niger is one of the world's largest uranium producers and houses vast gold deposits as well.

https://twitter.com/Drkingsbruh/status/1685451927172390912

The United States has several military bases in the country, and built the massive $110 million drone base in Agadez which was the biggest base-building effort ever undertaken in the history of the U.S. Air Force.

They use it as a chief operating center for AFRICOM whose influence has expanded greatly across the Sahel— conducting military, drone and surveillance operations as part of their *War on Terror* in the continent, as they shift focus away from the MENA and Afghanistan/ Pakistan.

There are currently over 1000 US military and Air Force personnel in Niger. The US often maintains troops/ bases by offering lucrative incentives to local elites— weapons contracts, access to American companies, material aid, etc. as a trade off to conduct operations from there.

Yet these bases themselves become targets for militant attacks. And as US bases have sprawled across the Sahel, *terrorism* has grown in frequency. Again, necessitating American presence furthermore.

Foreign military presence in Niger has everything to do with accessing + controlling its uranium which powers their country's electricity. Recently, the now disposed government of Mohamed Bazoum gave French company Orano exclusive access to the country's uranium mines until 2040.

The military has said they undertook this decision to overthrow the government because of economic and security mismanagement. Remember, Niger is one of 14 African states who since 1961 have been required by France to pay a yearly colonial tax to the French state as compensation.

These countries also have to keep 85% of their foreign reserves in the French central bank; which to access they have to get their permission. France leverages this to gain infrastructural project contracts and exclusive rights on accessing resources for French companies.

It's no surprise then that in the last few days it's the US and France who have expressed grave concern, calling for an urgent need to restore *constitutional order* and *uphold democracy* in the country— aka restore the Pro-western state apparatus.

This is further complicated by the fact that coup supporters have been waving Russian flags and burning French flags; Putin meanwhile held a summit in St.Petersburg for strengthening economic ties with the African continent— forgiving $23 billion in debt owed by African states.

Meanwhile the Wagner group who had been training military personnel in Niger for quite some time now and operating as security for mining operations in Niger and Mali as well, has also thrown their support behind the coup.

Then there's the fact that one of the chief architects in ousting the President, General Moussa Salaou Barmou, head of Niger’s Special Operations Forces, was trained at Fort Benning, Georgia and the National Defense University in Washington.

theintercept.com/2023/07/27/nig…

American trained officers have conducted six coups in nearby Burkina Faso + Mali. They have also been involved in recent coups in the Gambia (2014), Guinea (2021) and Mauritania (2008). That's 11 coups in West Africa since 2008 that have been led by US trained military officers.

The United States as of 2021 had provided Niger with more than $500 million in military assistance and training programs since 2012, while the European Union last year launched a $30 million military training mission in Niger as well.

European investment in Niger's military apparatus is important to note since Niger is central in the migrant crisis as it houses markets that are often the epicenters of human trafficking to Europe, coming from the rest of Africa and from Western, Central and Southern Asia.

The various French, American and Italian bases/ troops present in the country use drones to surveill the areas for migrant vessels and caravans, while their ships guard and patrol the coastal straits to assure migrants don't make it to mainland Europe.

Another factor in this coup is the potential role of the UAE who have been growing in terms of exerting varying forms of neocolonial influence over the region— attempts at installing puppet regimes to consolidate their interests, as seen recently in Sudan or Libya beforehand.

It's assumed at this point that they may be behind instigating this coup in Niger as part of their aspirations in recent years to exercise a soft control over the Sahel and its vast reserves of vital resources, mainly through the use of mercenaries and monetary channels.

Their strategy seeks to gain popular support amongst local factions by exploiting the anti-western sentiment prevalent; allowing them leverage when competing with the Chinese and Russian interests who they've thus far usually facilitated with business and geopolitical endeavors.

They've been active in influencing events in Sudan recently and have strong ties to Wagner and sponsoring other PMCs operating under the guise of security related activities. It's something to keep an eye on as this plays out over the coming weeks.