By Lateef Adegbite
The uranium war between the French President, Emmanuel Macron and Gen. Abudulrahmane Tchiani of Niger Republic, is far from being over. France, the former colonizer of Niger and the other Sahelian States of Burkina Faso and Mali, richly endowed with gold and other mineral resources and rare earth elements including Lithium, may have intensified the pressure on Nigerien Authorities to reconsider its decision on selling its uranium to France as its current stockpile o used in firing its power plants and production of nuclear weapons is gradually depleting.
An aggrieved Macron, who is not ready to sit by and watch his country’s economy thrown into complete total ruin appears determined to use the International Court process to force Abdulrahmane Tchiani, an Army General, and Transitional President of Niger Republic, a member country of the Alliance for Sahel State, AES, a break away faction of the Economic Community of West African Staes, ECOWAS.
The trio of Capt. Ibrahim Traore, of Burkina Faso, Generals Tchiani of Niger and Assimi Goita of Mali, may have had at the back of their mind that the French Leader, Macron, would head to the International Criminal Court, ICC, to challenge their decision for taking over control and management of their respective countries’ mineral resources and rare earth elements by sacking the French mining companies.
Gen. Gota of Mali, was particular, that Macron, would do everything within his powers to ensure that the state -owned company, Orano, which had been mining and involved in the export of uranium produced in the AES, to return to the continue the mining business.
Acting out a script, to forestall the return of the French Companies from the Sahelian region, to continue the mining of gold in Burkina Faso, Mali and Uranium in Niger Republic, may have informed why the trio of Traore, Goita and Tchiani, did not give a second thought before pulling out from the ICC.
Described as a ‘’colonial tool used by the Western powers, particular, France and other European countries to force Africans and other weaker nations on their knees to bow to their demands, the Burkinabe interim President and his Counterparts in Mali and Niger, who could no longer taker from France , let alone kotow to Macrn, had said that ‘’the ICC, has proven itself incapable of handling and prosecuting proven war crimes against humanity, crimes of genocide and crimes against aggression.
President Macron, who believes that the uranium deposit and other mineral resources and rare earth elements found in Niger Republic and the neghbouring Mali and Burkina, belong to France and not to the people of the Sahelian countries, to continue mining of the country’s uranium, based on the old order of the colonial deals with the country, but which had been cancelled, was said to have to have set up an investigation in Paris, the Capital, to investigate the alleged emoval of 1,600 tons of uranium, valued at about the United States, US, $310 million, without authorization ,that was said to have been stockpiled in Orano’s mining site before its nationalization by the Nigerien government in its push to sell its strategic minerals and rare earth elements to other trading partners without putting France, the former colonizer into consideration.
As a prelude to ensuring that France to recover the alleged 1,600 tons of uranium theft from the Nigerien government, which Gen. Tichiani, had described as a laughable, the French Prosecutor was said to have begun investigation in the alleged organized gang theft of the former colonizer’s uranium’’.
There is no gain saying the fact that over the last three years, uranium, according to Diplomatic sources, uranium, has been at the centre of a standoff between Orano and the Nigerien government.
Until the bubble burst, in 2024, Somair, a subsidiary of Orano, the French owned company, had operated the Arlit uranium site in Southern Niger. Orano, may have initiated the trouble with the Nigerien Authorities when it warned in a statement issued in 2024, that it had discovered that a shipment of 1300 tons, had left the Arlit uranium mining site where 1,600 tons were stockpiled.
According to informed sources, France, which relies on nuclear power for 70% of its electricity needs, both for homes and industries, sourced about 15$ of its uranium supply from AES, member country of Niger, when is three mines were still in full operation.
Despite dragging the Niger government to international arbitration Court to force it to reverse its decision on the sale of its uranium to France, Gen Tchiani, the Nigerien Leader, who could not hide his feelings, was said to have made categorically clear to the former colonizer ‘’Niger will no longer sell its uranium to the country, ending over six decades of selling uranium to France’’.
He was emphatic that uranium mined from Somair site will no longer be sold exclusively to France which pays a paltry sum of US $0.86 per ton as it used to be without completion but will be sold directly on the international market price of $200 per ton.
It would be recalled that Orano, since losing operational control of three mining subsidiaries in Niger Republic in December 2024, which is more than 90% owned by the French government , has launched several international arbitration proceedings against Niger , insiting that’’ the Sahelian country has no right to sell, let alone transfer or facilitate the transfer of uranium produced by Somair, which it had said 63.4% belong to the French company, Orano, prior to nationalization’’.
The Nigerien Authorities which could not take t from Macron and the Orano state owned company mining uranium inwish to buy them. the Sahelian state, appears to have made mockery of the French government moves to claim its mineral resources and rare earth elements as belong to France as nonsensical, stressing tat ‘’it has the legitimate right to control and manage its resources and in accordance with laws of the international market, sell them independently to those that wants to buy despite pressures from official and unofficial quarters from France. This may have necessitated why it sold 1000 tons of Somair mining site to Russia at the US, 2000 per ton, totaling $ 200 million.
Determined to do away with France for good, in the mining and export of its concentrate uranium, and its domestic use, appears to have facilitated the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding, MOU, aimed at strengthening bilateral cooperation in nuclear use and uranium mining in Niger.
The agreement between the two countries was said to have been signed on Monday, December 21, 2025, in Niamey, Capital of Nigeria. Based on the agreement, Russia, which appears to have filled the vacuum, created by France in the mining of uranium in the Sahelian region, was said to have agreed ‘’to train national managers who will be to work in the eastern European country area of intervention such as energy and energy, particular, and will also prepare the Sahelian countries engineers from start of their studies , so that they can continue their studies at Universities in Russian Federation.
President Putin of the Russian Federation appears to have kept its word of training AES, uranium engineers in Russian Universities on energy and uranium mining to help generate electricity from uranium to power homes and industries instead of exporting it to the western nations to provide their own nuclear reactors for their electricity generation to care for homes and industries. This is evident with the recent arrival of Nuclear Reactors to Burkina Faso ‘’to power nuclear energy within the country instead of going to the western nations’’.
Niger Republic may not be alone in trying to clip the wings of France, as Burkina Faso and Mali, the two Sahelian countries richly endowed with gold, has continued to distance itself from France, US and the other western powers including Germany, Belgium and Italy, which they had accused’’ of exploitation and undermining the sovereignty’’.
The question on the lips of most people over the uranium war between France and Niger, was: Who will laugh last, macron or Gen Tchiani? Your guest is as good as mine.
