A Bit More Detail

In another Julio Godoy report, activists claim that money from uranium and other mines is allowing the Nigerien president to tighten his grip on power.

The reform of Niger's constitution to allow president Mamadou Tandja to remain in power beyond his original mandate and even become president for life, was motivated by the hundreds of millions of dollars flowing into the West African country as a consequence of opaque foreign, especially French, investments in the local uranium mines.

[. . .]

Tandja, who has ruled Niger since 1999 and whose second mandate as president was scheduled to expire next December, defended the constitutional reform and the continuance of his term as an alleged "people's call" for his personal supervision of "all the important work that I started." This "work" is the foreign investment in uranium and other minerals.

According to official figures, more than 92 percent of Niger’s population voted in the referendum on Aug 4 to extend Tandja's mandate for another three years and also approved the constitutional amendment which will allow him to extend his mandate for life.

But, critics say, the real reason for these steps is corruption. The financial windfall that Niamey receives from foreign investments in the uranium, gold and oil fields, is enormous and tempting, according to several sources.

The French environmental group Sortire du nucléaire ("Phase out nuclear power") called the referendum "a coup d'état" and accused the French government of complicity with Tandja as Paris’s "silence condones the violation of human rights and corrupt practices" in Niger.

France, which has been exploiting uranium mines in Niger for 45 years, is the main foreign investor in Niger. Eight months ago, in Jan 2009, the French state-owned company Areva obtained a new concession to exploit the giant uranium mine of Imourarene, some 900 km north-east from the country's capital Niamey,

[. . .]

France, which does not possess uranium ore, completely relies on imports of the mineral to fuel its 58 nuclear power plants. The plants generate 80 percent of the country's electricity supply.

Other foreign countries investing heavily in Niger are the People's Republic of China, Australia and Canada. Niger, one of the poorest countries of the world, is the third largest uranium producer and is also rich in gold and oil. As of 2007, uranium exports accounts for 62 percent of exports by value and contributed 4.3 percent of government revenue.

If it forms only 4.3% of government revenue, it's open to question how it can play such a critical role in the Nigerien political economy, however. Right?