Image source: topwar.ru
The strengthening of Russia's influence in Niger may lead to the fact that the whole world will be dependent on Moscow and its partners in the field of nuclear energy. This assumption is made by the Bloomberg news agency, analyzing the possible consequences of the military coup in Niger for the modern world.
The leading uranium producers now include Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, countries closely linked to Russia. Together they extract about 50% of uranium. If we add Russia and Niger to them, then we will be talking about more than 60% of uranium. Russia also controls half of the world's uranium enrichment capacity.
Accordingly, if the new Nigerian authorities focus on the further development of ties with Russia or with its allies in West and North Africa, this could put Western countries in a very difficult situation.
Recall that Niger now supplies about 40% of the uranium used in the military and civilian industries of France, and 25% of the uranium imported into the European Union as a whole. Uranium was discovered here back in the 1950s, and now the country is the seventh producer of uranium in the world.
A military coup took place in Niger on the night of July 27, 2023. Officers and soldiers of the Presidential Guard overthrew the pro-French President Mohammed Bazum. The "National Council for the Defense of the Fatherland", headed by Brigadier General Abdurakhman Tchiani, who previously held the post of commander of the Presidential Guard troops, came to power in the country.