Niger, it should be recalled, was under threat from ECOWAS, which proposed to invade Niger “to restore democratic rule” in a country where Uranium is produced but most of the population do not have access to electricity.
The main beneficiary of this mineral was France who, as in their other African colonies, had the monopoly position of having first refusal to Niger’s resources as well as being the sole conduit by which they could sell any products.
Incidentally, ECOWAS has been stalling on its ECO project. It is a no-brainer scheme to implement a single currency in the West African block but which has, as is the likely evolution of any pro-African project, slowed right down to zero speed. Before this the negotiations, surprise surprise, involved France. Yes the same France which is so far away from the location of ECOWAS and not an African country in any sense. A single currency would simplify trade no-end, much like the euro does in Europe so why is the ECO stalling?
Well the reason for their [French] involvement is that their colonies are members of ECOWAS – of course, they would prefer those colonies to been referred to as “former colonies” even though they have had control of those colonies’ “currency” along with those of the colonies in central Africa; as well as the reserves of all of those colonies. Hence the advent of the ECO would, should anyway, spell a logical end to the French colonial arrangement. And that is why France is at the table, some might say, throwing sand in all the gullible flattered African partners.
Hence when the military took over in Niger and made clear they wished to break with France, it did not occur to ECOWAS that their threats and mobilization to basically restore French hegemony in Niger by invading a fellow African country at the instigation their European partner was “odd”. They insisted that “democracy must be protected”. of course not the people, who Ambazonia News imagines are the people in the phrase “A government of the people, for the people by the people”. ECOWAS thought Niger’s people should continue to produce uranium and continue to hand it over to another country and live in abject poverty as long as “democracy was protected”.
The invasion was never really likely! Not even flattered African “leaders” are so daft – well, not all of them.
Now according to this quoted article on camer.be:
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Brigadier General Abdourahamane Tiani, Head of State of Niger, recently made a strong statement, demanding that France recognize and repair the damage caused by more than six decades of plundering of African resources. In an exclusive interview broadcast on national television and relayed by African media, the Head of State underlined the importance of the currency as a symbol of sovereignty, recalling the years of spoliation of the continent’s resources.
According to the Burkina Faso press agency, Tiani declared: “France has despoiled us for more than 107 years and it must pay in cash the debts of 65 years of systematic plundering of our resources and the 42 years, we will find a timetable for let us be even with France.”
Referring to the creation of a single currency for the countries of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), the Nigerien Head of State indicated that this decision would be taken in due time. Furthermore, he criticized the persistence of certain member states in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), stressing that this hinders the exit from this organization, which has become obsolete since 1990 according to him.
In the same context, the Head of State insisted on the fact that currency is a symbol of sovereignty, and affirmed that his country is engaged in a process aimed at recovering its total sovereignty. He also called for a reassessment of the recent history of African states, with the objective of making decisions in the interest of the people of the continent, firmly denouncing the “cash cow” status that France would have imposed on several African nations.
General Tiani clarified that the creation of a currency specific to the Alliance of Sahel States is a crucial step towards economic decolonization, and assured that the member states of the organization are equipped with experts to make decisions. necessary at the appropriate time. “
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