Despite holding some of the world’s richest uranium deposits, Niger suffers from chronic electricity shortages and has for decades exported the raw material to France for refining.
That dependency is now under strain as the military government in Niamey distances itself from Paris, opening space for Moscow to assert influence.
Last month, Russia and Niger signed a deal focusing on the peaceful use of nuclear energy, with Rosatom assisting in developing nuclear infrastructure, including power plants, research reactors, and fuel supply.
“During today’s meeting, an important memorandum of cooperation in the field of peaceful atom was signed. Our task is not just to participate in the extraction of uranium, we must create an entire system for the development of a peaceful atom in Niger,” Russian Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilev said via the ministry’s Telegram channel.
By linking its offer to Niger’s energy deficit, Moscow positions itself as both a development partner and a strategic alternative to France, raising the stakes in the global contest for Africa’s resources.
Niger’s nationalisation policy
Russia’s interest in Niger’s minerals comes amid the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) – comprising Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger move to increasingly advanced nationalisation policies as part of their break with France and their wider rejection of Western influence.
Niger in particular, with its vast uranium reserves, adopted a nationalisation clause that asserts state ownership and greater control over natural resources.
Niger, which produces about 4 percent of the world’s uranium, has long been a key supplier for Orano.
In practical terms, Niger’s military leadership initiated moves to revise contracts with French nuclear giant Orano (formerly Areva), which for decades enjoyed privileged access to Nigerien uranium.
After Niger moved to nationalize its mines, Orano warned that its majority-owned joint venture, SOMAIR, is nearing bankruptcy following a year of export restrictions.
The new policy framework has paved the way for cooperation with Russia, extending discussions beyond raw material extraction to cover power generation, medical applications, and training of local specialists under an agreement with state-owned Rosatom.
This clause is framed around the principle that strategic assets like uranium, gold, and oil must directly benefit the people of Niger, rather than being primarily exported for the profit of foreign multinationals.
Russia’s interest in Niger’s uranium
An insight by Paul Melly, a consultant at Chatham House and BBC analyst suggests that Niger’s break with France is not simply a diplomatic rupture but the unravelling of a decades-old imbalance.
Melly notes that Niger’s decades-long uranium partnership with France’s Orano, formerly Areva, kept French reactors running but offered Niger little beyond mining.
Niger has long relied on coal-fired generation and electricity imports from Nigeria, remaining unable to harness its vast uranium reserves for domestic power. But even that external lifeline has proven unstable.
Earlier this year, the Nigerian government slashed electricity exports to Niger Republic by 42 per cent, cutting supplies from 80 megawatts to just 46MW. The reduction triggered a severe energy crisis, with Niger’s electricity output plunging by 30 to 50 per cent
That legacy is now being challenged.
With ties to Paris severed, Niger’s military rulers are welcoming overtures from Moscow, which has promised to explore not just mining but the creation of a nuclear power plant.
Whether this proposal becomes reality remains uncertain. But politically, it carries symbolic weight: Russia positioning itself as the partner willing to provide the nuclear know-how that France withheld, and Niger seizing the chance to rewrite its role from supplier of raw ore to potential producer of domestic atomic energy.
