Niger has turned up the heat on France and Ukraine at the United Nations General Assembly, accusing the two countries of involvement in an alleged attempt to destabilise the central Sahel.
Niger’s Prime Minister, Ali Mahamane Lamine Zeine, made the allegations while addressing the UN General Assembly, where he delivered a strongly worded defence of his country’s sovereignty, control of its natural resources and growing alliance with Mali and Burkina Faso.
Zeine said the security crisis in the Sahel was not simply about terrorism, arguing that the region’s vast mineral and energy resources had also become a source of geopolitical competition.
He specifically accused France, with what he described as the “active complicity” of Ukraine, of attempting to destabilise the central Sahel.
“Niger’s uranium, Mali and Burkina Faso’s gold, lithium, gas, oil and so many other riches still make the former colonial powers salivate,” he said.
He described what he called the “cynical machinery of recolonization dressed in the trappings of extremism.”
‘The Sahel sees, hears and remembers’
Zeine further alleged that armed groups were positioned close to Niger’s northeastern frontier and preparing attacks against military and petroleum installations.
“The Sahel sees, the Sahel hears, the Sahel remembers, and the Sahel understands things very well,” he declared.
He warned that any attempt to attack Niger’s military positions or oil installations would be met with a response.
“They are about to attack our military positions and our oil installations. But inshallah they will find what they deserve if they do so,” he said.
The allegations against France and Ukraine were made by the Nigerien government and were not independently established in the material reviewed.
Niger takes control of uranium
A major part of Zeine’s address focused on Niger’s uranium industry and its increasingly bitter dispute with French nuclear company Orano.
“For more than half a century, Niger’s uranium has lit the cities of Europe while our cities have remained in darkness. That injustice is now over,” he said.
Zeine said Niger had recovered control of the Société des Mines de l’Aïr (SOMAÏR), insisting that uranium currently produced and stockpiled belonged to Niger.
“The current stock belongs to our country. It does not belong to anyone, and we will sell it to all those who wish to buy,” he said.
Niger nationalised SOMAÏR in June 2025 after a prolonged dispute with Orano, which previously held a majority stake in the company.
Orano has challenged the move and maintains that its rights in the company and its uranium stock remain protected, making the ownership dispute an ongoing matter.
Zeine also claimed that equipment had been sabotaged after foreign operators left and said Niger invested about 30 billion CFA francs to restart production using Nigerien workers and experts.
‘Our future will no longer be decided elsewhere’
The Prime Minister presented Niger’s growing cooperation with Mali and Burkina Faso through the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) as a fundamental shift in the region.
He described the AES as a “profound, lasting, irrepressible and irreversible change.”
According to Zeine, the three countries now have a unified force of about 5,000 personnel, with plans to expand it to 15,000.
He also highlighted the bloc’s investment and development bank, biometric passport, television channel, press agency, radio and confederation parliament.
“Our resources belong to our peoples. Our future will no longer be decided elsewhere,” he said.
Russia, China, Türkiye among ‘true friends’
Zeine also openly identified countries that Niger now considers important partners.
He named Togo, Türkiye, Morocco, Russia and China, describing them as “true friends.”
He separately praised Algeria, calling it a “kindred and neighboring country” and highlighting cooperation in defence, natural resources, health, education, energy, water and agriculture.
The remarks underline Niger’s changing foreign-policy orientation as relations with France and other Western partners have deteriorated.
Oil and uranium to fund development
Zeine said Niger was increasingly using revenues from its natural resources to finance domestic development.
He said oil and uranium revenues were being channelled into security, agriculture, electrification, water and sanitation, education and healthcare.
Niger began large-scale crude-oil exports through the Niger-Benin pipeline in 2024, with the World Bank identifying oil exports and improved agricultural production as major drivers of the country’s economic rebound.
Zeine also highlighted government efforts to expand agricultural production and reduce dependence on imported food.
He said Niger intends to halve grain imports by the end of 2027.
Niger backs Palestine
The Prime Minister also addressed the war in Gaza, calling for protection of civilians and unrestricted humanitarian access.
He reaffirmed Niger’s support for a two-state solution that would allow Palestine and Israel to live side by side in peace, security and dignity.
‘That right is non-negotiable’
Zeine ended his address with a renewed declaration of Niger’s sovereignty over its natural resources and its right to choose its international partners.
“Niger intends to fully exercise its sovereignty over its natural resources and will never again accept any restriction imposed from outside on its sovereign right to freely choose its partners,” he said.
“That right is inalienable and it is non-negotiable.”
The address offered a clear picture of Niger’s current foreign-policy direction: tighter integration with Mali and Burkina Faso, greater control of its uranium and oil resources, deeper relations with Russia, China and Türkiye, and a rejection of what Niamey describes as continued foreign interference in the Sahel.
