Move follows the 2024 takeover of three major uranium mines and ongoing arbitration battles with French-backed Orano…
Niger’s military government announced on Sunday that it has begun offering uranium mined by Somair, previously operated by French nuclear giant Orano before it was nationalised in June on the international market.
The announcement, delivered during an evening broadcast on state television channel Télé Sahel, cited remarks from junta leader General Abdourahamane Tiani. According to the report, Tiani asserted that Niger has “the legitimate right to manage its natural resources and sell them to any buyer it chooses, in line with market rules and in complete independence.”
Uranium production has become a major flashpoint in the ongoing confrontation between the ruling junta, which seized power in 2023, and Orano, a company 90 percent owned by the French government and involved in Niger’s uranium industry for decades.
Russia has also signalled growing interest in Niger’s mineral wealth. In July, Russian Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilev stated that Moscow hoped to participate in uranium extraction in the country.
Since the 2023 coup, Niger has significantly realigned its foreign partnerships, pivoting toward Russia, which holds the world’s largest stockpile of nuclear weapons, for assistance in combating jihadist violence. In the same period, the junta has distanced itself from France, accusing its former colonial ruler of backing separatist movements.
In 2024, the government stripped Orano of its operational control over Somair, Cominak, and Imouraren, the latter considered one of the world’s most important uranium deposits. Though Orano still formally owns a 60 percent stake in the companies, it has launched multiple arbitration efforts in hopes of restoring its authority over the sites.
Niger remains a significant player in the global nuclear supply chain. In 2022, the country supplied roughly 25 percent of the natural uranium used in European nuclear power plants, according to figures from the EU’s atomic energy agency, Euratom.
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