Niger’s military regime suspended the activities of several hundred local and foreign NGOs and development associations last week, Agence France-Presse learned from authorities on Thursday, November 20.
General Abdourahamane Tiani, who came to power in July 2023 after a coup, has since led a sovereignty policy in Niger. The junta often accuses NGOs of lacking transparency and providing insufficient support “terrorist”.
In late January, the Minister of the Interior, General Mohamed Toumba, a member of the military regime, said he would take over“important steps to ensure monitoring and supervision of NGOs and development organizations”. Last week, he authorized around a hundred NGOs and associations, out of more than 4,000 NGOs in the country, to resume their activities for complying with the new regulations. Others were ordered to do so “suspend” their activities.
The ministry criticized NGOs and unauthorized associations for not publishing their financial reports in 2024 Official Journalgiving them a period of sixty days to comply. The number of international NGOs involved was not specified.
National sovereignty, the junta’s priority
Niger officially has 4,122 NGOs and development associations, 332 of which are foreign, which have mobilized more than 250 billion CFA francs (380 million euros) by 2024, according to official figures. Authorities have banned several local and international NGOs from operating in the country.
“Our investigations allowed us to discover that there are many NGOs associated with these partners who are waging war against us through subversion missions. (…)through the support they often provide to terrorists”General Toumba estimated in January.
Since coming to power, the junta has made national sovereignty one of its priorities. The country expelled French and American troops involved in the anti-jihadist struggle on its territory, expelled the French ambassador from the European Union, and courted new partners such as Russia and Türkiye.
On Thursday, General Tiani again accused Paris of wanting this “disturbing stability” Niger, fighting against jihadist groups. “The war we are waging is a total war, which is what France and its leader, Emmanuel Macron, want.”he said in front of soldiers deployed from the Diffa (Southeast) region located in the Lake Chad basin, where Boko Haram and ISIS are active in West Africa.
