Out of Niger: Building an Africa of Africans, for Africans, by Africans

• Rising African Pride and Critique of France: After the recent Niger coup, there’s a surge in African pride on social media, with critics calling out France’s historical exploitation of Africa. Activists emphasize the negative impacts of France’s interventions, fostering economic disparities and militarization.
• France’s Resource Exploitation: France’s mining of Niger’s uranium deposits for over 60 years has yielded low returns for Niger. Controversy surrounds health risks for mine workers and environmental damage due to uranium extraction.
• Push for African Independence: Activists advocate for genuine African independence, fair compensation for resources, and in-country value addition. However, they stress the need for accurate information and solid foundations to avoid counterproductive outcomes.

Ever since the coup happened in Niger 2 weeks ago, and ECOWAS started beating war drums, there has been an uptick in African pride and patriotism and the social media space is not left out.

Commentators and Activists on social media are calling for the head of France for exploiting Africa for so long. France must be expelled from Africa they chorus, And I agree.

Critique of France’s Role in Africa

The socio-economic and political practices and operations of France in post-independent African nations have largely had a net negative effect.

Their selfish and self-driven intervention in Libya has brought chaos, small arms and terrorists across the Sahel and down to Nigeria.

All the countries stretching from the extreme west to the extreme east of Africa that has now been taken over by tourists in recent times have been primary recipients of the misadventures and self-centred operations of France.

My last article titled “On Niger’s Uranium, Lions and Sheep”, was an exposé on France’s 63-year financial misadventure in the Niger Republic.

It exposed how 2 companies officially owned by the Government of France have been mining over 90% of Niger’s Uranium deposits since their independence in August of 1960.

In those 63 years, not only have they (France) made returns of only 5.5% to Niger, but they have left in their wake a tale of woe.

An investigation carried out by Sherpa NGO, an international network of lawyers who promote corporate social responsibility, uncovered that workers in Niger’s Uranium mines were not informed of health risks; were not given the most basic protection measures; and were not always treated if they developed lung cancer.

Long-term inhalation exposure to radon, a gas formed by the breakdown of uranium, has been linked to the onset of lung cancer.

France’s Impact on African Nations

Another French NGO, CRIIRAD, found that water, soil and metal scrap from the area where Niger’s two mines are exploited were contaminated with dangerously high radioactivity levels.

Another NGO, Alternative Espaces Citoyens, notes that “uranium extraction has significantly damaged the environment, reducing forests and pastures” and we are yet to speak of the resulting militarization that this resource wealth drives.

Over the years, in resource-rich African countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Liberia, Sierra Leone, Angola, etc, we already see a pattern of violence and militarization largely driven by the willingness of foreign governments to provide military and financial support that help guarantee continued access to those resources.

In Niger, this mix is even more violently volatile because of political instability in Libya, armed rebellion in Northern Niger, and the presence of multiple terrorist groups in the region including, JNIM, Islamic State West Africa (ISWA), Islamic State Greater Sahara (ISGS),

Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), Al Murabitoun, Ansar Dine, Katiba Macina and of course, Boko Haram.

Add to this mix, the presence of a US Military Drone Base with the ability to strike as far as Libya and Nigeria; the presence of 1,100 US troops largely stationed around the Arlit Airport, and another 1,500 French troops largely stationed in Niamey, and you will appreciate that as Wyclef Jean sang in his 1997 hit song, Anything Can Happen.

Some things have started happening.

A few days ago on Friday the 11th of August, thousands of very noisy and agitated Nigeriens carrying Russian and Nigerien flags gathered at Niamey’s popular Escadrille roundabout just a few blocks away from the French Military Base in Niamey, chanting “down with France” and demanding the immediate withdrawal of all French troops from Niger.

A few days earlier on August 3, Colonel Major Amadou Abdramane, Minister of Youth and Sports and spokesperson of the regime, had announced the cancellation of 5 military cooperation agreements signed with France between 1977 and 2020. France rejected this cancellation instantly and outrightly.

Exploitation of Resources and Environmental Concerns

Tensions are indeed high.

These tensions are now being further escalated and driven to more extremes by social media and its sometimes sensational news.

Take the case of Dr Arikana Chihombori-Quao, the very smart, very erudite, very beautiful, and firebrand female medical doctor turned activist, who was fired from her post as AU Permanent Representative to the United States of America on October 7th 2019.

Some of her old posts and videos are now being resurrected and shared on social media. This is presently turning her into a social media sensation.

In one of them (which also happens to be a good summary of her submissions on this subject), reproduced in Nigeria’s Guardian Newspaper edition of January 1 2020, she said:

• “Today, France is taking out of Francophone Africa over US$500 billion. We, the Africans, the poor countries, are giving France US$500 billion year in and year out.
• Africa must tell France that the $500 billion you are taking out of Africa every year, no more. France needs to be the Third World developing country, not Africa.
• No more shall we continue to be exploited. France can no longer take $500 billion out of Africa.”

The Call for True African Independence

I applaud Dr Quao, her boldness, her tenacity, her vision and her brilliant articulation and communication of said vision. I also share that vision:

An Africa where Africans are left by foreign governments to determine the fate of Africa. An Africa where we get just compensation for our minerals.

An Africa where a good portion of our resources are converted to value-added products. An Africa where foreigners, especially foreigners of the meddlesome west, do not abuse and misuse their military, financial, and information resource-superiority to manufacture problems which they then turn around to maximize.

An Africa of Africans, for Africans, by Africans and this isn’t too much to ask. After all, An Africa of Africans, for Africans, by Africans, is in the true Spirit of Democracy, which they swear by, and which they posit to uphold – even at the cost of Western lives.

So I share this great vision of Africa with Dr Quao. I however do not share the tendency to deploy faulty or false data in an attempt to achieve it.

This could lead to false equivalencies and conclusions that could have 2 potentially negative outcomes:

• Firstly, it could over-rile up the people. In an already tense environment, this could lead to avoidable and costly violence and needless conflagration.
• Secondly, building a case on the wrong foundation and with wrong data could lead to an outcome where you march ‘aluta continua’ with maximum determination, only for your entire case to fall apart in the end because of its intrinsic and inherent falsehood and contradictions.

One such falsehood is the figure that the now-viral Dr Quao is sharing: France takes $ 500 billion out of Africa annually.

The figure perspective of this

Let’s put this figure in perspective.

Niger mines an average of 3,000 tonnes of Uranium a year. The spot price for Uranium internationally was $40/lb last year, $43/lb last month, and $57/lb last week. This relatively new high price is driven by current events in Niger.

For calculation purposes, let’s average out spot prices at $50/lb.

There are 2,000 lbs per tonne. So every year on average Niger’s total revenue from Uranium is:

3,000T × 2,000lbs x $50 = $300m/year.
(Keep in mind, this is the best-case scenario. Most times both output and spot prices are lower)

To estimate actual earnings, subtract the cost of production of the Uranium. According to EIA’s 2013 Uranium Production Report, the cost of mining uranium in the US is $67.10/lb (This cost includes land, reclamation and exploration).

If you remove those considerations and factor in only direct costs, the figure is $47.41/lb. Even if we assume that in Niger things are extremely cheap and France can get away with blue murder, direct production costs will still be high.

The cost of machinery inputs and reagents does not change because you are in France or because you are in Niger. Only the cost of labour and such can change. Let’s be generous and assign that portion a 25% reduction in costs.

This means the cost of production will be:
$47.41 × 0.75% = $35.55/lb

Therefore annual Uranium production costs are:
3000T x 2000lbs x $35.55 = $213,300m/year

So gross profits from Niger’s Uranium (Revenue minus Costs):
$300m – $213,300 = $76.7m/year

Uranium is the most valuable mineral that France takes out of Niger and of the 14 countries that France has such relationships with in Africa, Niger is one of the more resource-rich.

If you run the numbers, therefore, you will see that France taking $ 500 billion out of Africa every year is impossible. If they could take out even just 10% of that figure, I would personally consider that surprising!

How about the Monetary Agreements? Where 50% of the Foreign Exchange Reserves of 14 African nations are held in the French Treasury in Paris? Firstly, note that it’s called the “Foreign Exchange Reserve”.

This means that it’s best held in Forex, in a foreign bank, and as Reserve (like insurance). Investopedia says that the purpose of this is for a government to have “backup funds if their national currency rapidly devalues or becomes entirely insolvent”.

So it is OK if these 14 African countries signed agreements to hold 50% of theirs in Francs in the French Treasury in Paris. The next logical question would be how much is this 50% that is held in France?

The total forex reserves of those 14 countries are $12.584 billion. Ranging from the largest, Ivory Coast at $4.96 billion, through to the smallest, Niger at slightly less than $1m. 50% of that total of $12.584 billion is circa $ 6.3 billion.

This means that France holds Six Billion Three Hundred Million US dollars in forex reserves for these 14 African countries, Or roughly 17% of Nigeria’s forex reserves, to put it in perspective.

The way forward

So, in her “France takes $500billion out of Africa annually” position, Dr Arikana Chihombori-Quao was just being sensationalist. At best.

Furthermore, the combined GDP of those 14 African nations is $284.1 billion. Starting from the highest, Ivory Coast at $70 billion, to the lowest, Central African Republic (CAR) at $2.5 billion.

For perspective again, their combined GFP of that’s 59.5% of Nigeria’s GDP. So even if France somewhat managed to uproot, kidnap and airlift those 14 countries, they still won’t be able to take out $500 billion annually because it just simply isn’t there!

Sensationalism based on falsehood does not help our cause and case in Africa. Dr Quao and her ilk that deploy this kind of tactics need to be made acutely aware of that.

That notwithstanding, her general idea is right and on the money. France and other foreign powers need to get out of Africa so we can finally create:

An Africa of Africans, for Africans, by Africans.

I am an unwavering apostle for African solidarity, pride and true independence. But let us ensure we build it on a true and solid foundation.

A Foundation of Truth.

Emeka Orjih. 𝕿𝖞𝖊 𝕾𝖙𝖗𝖆𝖙𝖊𝖌𝖎𝖘𝖙.
A Finance & Development Strategist, an MSME Specialist, and a former Assistant Country Director of the US Government Agency, USADF (US African Development Foundation), Emeka holds an MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.