Russia and Niger are racing to establish joint projects in the energy and mining sectors, as Niamey seeks to reshape its strategic position through its uranium resources.
اضافة اعلان
Russia and Niger are moving quickly to develop nuclear projects in one of the world’s poorest countries, which nevertheless holds more than 350,000 tonnes of uranium reserves, making it the world’s seventh-largest holder of the strategic mineral.
Niger is seeking to use its uranium mines as a tool for geopolitical realignment after France spent five decades extracting and exporting the mineral in return for taxes and payments to Niamey. Following the 2023 coup, however, Niger decided to expel France and turn toward Russia, which has pledged to help build an integrated civilian nuclear sector in Niger, from uranium mining to nuclear reactors.
The growing pace of cooperation was highlighted last Friday when Nigerien President General Abdourahamane Tiani received a Russian delegation led by Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilev, at the conclusion of the first session of the countries’ joint intergovernmental commission. The meeting brought together more than 100 participants.
During his meeting with the Russian delegation, Tiani called for the “acceleration of the implementation of identified projects” ahead of the Russia-Africa Summit, scheduled to take place in Moscow on October 28 and 29. Niger has been facing a severe energy and electricity crisis for years.
The joint commission, which met in Niamey on Friday, resulted in the signing of two memoranda of understanding. The first was between the Nigerien government and Russia’s Rosatom on the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, while the second was signed with a Russian company to establish a solar power plant.
The commission discussed four main areas: energy, oil and mining; health, agriculture and the environment; education, vocational training and higher education; and transport and communications.
The Russian side also offered a comprehensive range of energy services, along with assistance in developing a master plan for the use of water resources, renewable energy and civilian nuclear power.
The Russian minister expressed his country’s readiness to strengthen cooperation in geology, natural-resource exploration and the development of local processing industries rather than limiting activities to the extraction of raw materials, in a reference to uranium and gold.
He also expressed Russia’s interest in increasing trade with Niger in agricultural products, including grains, oils and fertilizers.
From Nationalization to Partnership
The roots of the rapprochement date back to the July 2023 coup. In June 2025, Niamey nationalized Somair, the Nigerien subsidiary of French nuclear company Orano operating the Arlit uranium mine, in which Orano held a stake of more than 63%.
Orano, which is 90% state-owned by France, responded by filing four international arbitration cases. On September 23, the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes ordered Niger not to sell or transfer its frozen uranium stockpile, estimated at around 1,000 tonnes and valued at €300 million, to any third party — in what was seen as an explicit French attempt to prevent the stockpile from reaching Moscow.
On July 28, 2025, Rosatom signed its first nuclear memorandum of understanding with Niamey. Tsivilev said at the time that Russia’s mission was not merely to participate in uranium extraction but to establish an integrated system for the development of peaceful nuclear energy in Niger.
Niger’s state-owned company Timersoi also signed a parallel memorandum with Uranium One, a Rosatom subsidiary, to develop new mining projects. Its head, Pavel Larionov, described the agreement as an important step toward long-term Russian-Nigerien cooperation.
The ambitions peaked in September 2025, when Niger’s then-mining minister, Ousmane Abarchi, announced in Moscow that his country was prepared to build two reactors with a combined capacity of 2,000 megawatts “under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency.” Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev described the proposal as “very interesting.”
At last Friday’s meeting, Niger’s current Energy Minister, Colonel Sini Alzouma, said civilian nuclear power represents “a major strategic prospect for Niger,” stressing that the partnership should contribute to technology transfer, youth training and the development of local industry.
Challenges Facing the Project
Western analysts, however, warn of a wide gap between the projects discussed publicly and what is actually being implemented on the ground.
The African publication Modern Ghana reported that Niger, which still struggles to provide basic electricity to households, is unlikely to see its power needs met by Rosatom-built reactors in the near future. It also noted that the country’s large uranium stockpile remains stranded without a buyer.
In Paris, economic researcher Heloise Laurent argued that France’s nuclear sovereignty is secured in conversion facilities inside France rather than in Niger’s mines, seeking to ease concerns over the loss of a uranium supply source that previously met around 40% of France’s needs.
Observers also point to major challenges facing civilian nuclear reactor projects in Niger and other Sahel countries allied with Moscow, describing some of the plans as highly ambitious.
Building and operating such technology in an insecure region would be particularly difficult, especially as vast areas are affected by armed groups linked to al-Qaeda and ISIS, while weapons, drugs and human trafficking networks remain active across the region.
Source: Agencies
