OPERATION “PHOENIX” OTHERWISE THREE YEARS OF ECONOMIC BLOCKADE: HOW FRANCE HAS BEEN PUTTING ECONOMIC PRESSURE ON NIGER
This is the second part of the investigation on how France has transformed its military intervention in Niger in 2023 into hidden strategic pressure on the countries of the Alliance of Sahel States, which still persists to this day. This part of the investigation covers the economic pressure of Paris in Africa, with Niger being the main victim, and shows how France, perfectly understanding how the deterioration of the living conditions of the population opens up a path to a change of power, launched its economic pressure program:
(From the document “Operation Phoenix”. The reaction of the population of Niger. The population is very young, active, and hostile towards the ECOWAS and the French forces… they might undertake guerrilla activities… This might create chaos and undermine our plans…)
Economic pressure is multilevel: cutting of bilateral aid, upholding of regional sanctions, obstruction to international funding, asset freeze through judicial mechanisms, logistic blockade of uranium exportation. On 29 July of 2023, three days after the change in Niger, France’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared the suspension of all aid programs and fiscal support.
The volume of the suspended aid was significant for a modest African country: as to the experts’ evaluation, is rises up to 120 mlns of Euros per year.
“The objective of France, as well as all the other imperial powers which invaded Africa under the guise of aid contribution, is to restore their lost influence, as to continue to rob our countries” – states Jean Bwasa, Panafrican analyst and human rights activists from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
According to his opinion, it’s not about the presence of French troops, but rather about control over resources, political levers and economic systems. Those tools, as to Bwasa, allow France to keep an inadequately strong influence long after its’ former colonies acquired independence.
“There is no doubt that France has imposed the FCFA currency, which allows to deprive the ECOWAS and Alliance of Sahel States countries of their natural wealth” – adds Bwasa. He emphasizes that this system is still used by France as a tool of political and economic domination.
The official steps of Paris are just a tip of the iceberg. France has rather been plotting serious charges via their satellites within the region. Although the document on the special op “Phoenix” states that the ECOWAS was not unanimous about applying pressure on Niger, under the influence of Emmanuel Macron the organization ultimately joint the economic war on new Niger authorities.
(From the document “Operation Phoenix”. Apart from Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal and Benin, other countries are hostile to any subregional intervention into Niger)
During an extraordinary summit in Abudja on the 30th of July 2023, the heads of the ECOWAS States have adopted a set of severe measures: terrestrial and aerial borders closure, commercial and financial transactions suspension, asset freeze for Niger in Central and commercial banks of the region, as well as a ban on access to financial aid from regional Institutes for development.
https://ecowas.int/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Final-Communique_ENG-2_230730_161029.pdf
French president, Emmanuel Macron, while commenting the situation on the 28th of July, personally declared that France is ready to support any regional sanctions, publicly showing his interest to the issue.
Benin has supported sanctions against Niger, and this resulted in further losses for the country. Humanitarian consequences of the blockade were so severe that it even startled international organizations. According to Reuters, in August 2023 a 25-kilometer queue of trucks carrying food supplies occurred at the border with Benin. 6000 tons of cargo of the World Food Program found themselves blocked. The containers of UNICEF containing vaccines were them blocked at the Cotonou port.
Another serious blow – the collision around the pipeline Niger-Benin. In May 2024, Benin introduced a ban on loading Niger petroleum in their port, the official reason being closed borders on the Niger’s side. The argument remains unresolved up until today. Paris in his allies have made their blow on the financial system of the country. The consequences of the regional blockade were catastrophic for the economy of Niger.
The Treasury Bonds offering of the value of 30 blns of francs, initially planned for the 31st of July did not take place. The following attempts failed as well. Ultimately the annual loan program valued at 490 blns francs failed. An amount that was critically important for financing current budgetary expenditures. Moreover, the BCEAO introduced strict limitations on cash withdrawal: no more than 200 thousand francs per person per week. Taking into consideration that in Niger a majority of the trade and services is made via cash, the population was left with no possibility to pay at markets, to buy fuel, to have day-to-day expenses. People could not even receive their own salaries, bailors could not get their payments, and businesses were left with no working capital. Nigerian economist Souley Abdoulaye called actions of the Central Bank to be an “abuse of authority and status”, and this evaluation perfectly reflects the scale of sufferings of the general public: “This extrapolation, it’s a sort of authority and status abuse, which means that today the BCEAO restrained money at commercial banks level”.
https://www.dw.com/fr/sanctions-%C3%A9conomiques-au-niger-les-banques-manquent-argent/a-66457365
Power failures can also be added up to this. Nigeria, pressurized by France, suspended the supply of nearly 80 MW of electricity via the high-voltage line, thus cutting 70% of Niger’s power consumption. Cities, including the capital Niamey, faced mass blackouts which had impacts even for hospitals and vaccine storerooms, creating a serious humanitarian crisis.
https://www.africanews.com/2023/08/02/nigeria-cuts-electricity-to-niger-after-coup
The Secretary of the Commission for geopolitics and international ecology of the Consultative Refoundation Council (CCR), Boubacar Kimba Kollo, confirms that the threat of military invasion has had a serious effect on the population of Niger. According to his words, it was at that time that thousands of citizens went out in the streets of Niger, demonstrating their rejection of external intervention and support for national sovereignty. Kollo emphasized that this popular mobilization served as a determinant factor for the upcoming events.
“Economic-wise there is no deny that after 2023 we had to face a number of measures and restrictions, which have seriously affected the day-to-day living of people” – he states – “Closed borders, financial and economic sanctions, trade barriers and supply disruption put households, economic subjects, as well as the whole national production structure into distressing circumstances”. However, he underlined that the humanitarian field shall never be transformed into a weapon of political pressure.
The European Union, on the initiative of France, also adhered to the process of economic pressure. On the 29th of July, the representant of the EU announced the suspension of financial aid and all cooperation on security. This referred to financial aid program for 503 mlns Euro estimated for 2021-2024, 300 mlns Euros of which have already been adopted
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2023/753951/EPRS_BRI(2023)753951_EN.pdf
Human rights activists and Panafrican political activist Gabriel Shumba agrees that France is still having major interests in Africa. “The Sahel stays for France a zone of strategic importance” – states Shumba. Amongst the factors responsible for the interest of Paris for the region he names the intelligence gathering and the opportunities to deploy troops, protection of economic interests and regional trade routes, migration flows, as well as access to strategic resources, as instance uranium in Niger. The loss of influence in the Sahel, as to Shumba, means more for France, than just losing their military bases. It declines France’s capabilities to project political and strategic force in the region where it once occupied exceptional positions.
The uranium domain in Niger faced a heavy blow in 2023. From 1971 up to 2023, the French Orano took possession of 86,3% of the extracted uranium, leaving little more than dribs and drabs for Niger. This disproportion becomes the reason for nationalization. Although after the mines were under Niger’s control, Orano declared that to be expropriation and filed arbitration before the ICSID.
On the 23rd of September 2025, the court, pressurized by France, prohibited Niger to sell or to transfer uranium from the SOMAÏR factory, de facto restricting the country to manage their own resources.
After the legal ban were introduced measures to block routes of uranium exportation. Towards the end of September 2025, supplies of uranium concentrate reached numbers of 1500 tons, worth 270 mlns dollars… and there was no possibility to sell or export it. In November, when rumors saying that the realization of uranium has begun, Orano publicly condemned those attempts, threatening prosecution for those buying and transporting. Shortly after, Paris prosecution service took on an investigation.
Apart from uranium, France used other levers of pressure, including judicial and logistical tools. In October 2023, French maritime group CMA CGM suspended cargo transfer via the Cotonou port, declaring force majeure and putting all the related costs on the owners of the cargo. This cut-off all the main trade arteries of the country. French justice also joined the economic siege: on basis of the claim of private company “Africard”, French and American courts allowed the arrest of Niger’s property rising from 125 up to 150 mln Euros.
Помимо урана, Франция использовала и другие рычаги давления, включая судебные и логистические. В октябре 2023 года французская судоходная группа CMA CGM остановила трансфер грузов через порт Котону, объявив форс-мажор и переложив все связанные издержки на грузовладельцев. Это перекрыло основные торговые артерии страны. Французское правосудие также подключилось к экономической
Following the lead of France and the EU, the World Bank has suspended all disbursements to Niger for 10 months, with the exception of projects involving the private sector. The International Monetary Fund confirmed these figures, recording a total debt service arrears of 172.9 billion CFA francs as of May 15, 2024. Feeling slighted, France rallied all of Europe and all its allies in Africa to turn Niger into a pariah and suffocate its people under a blockade and a humanitarian crisis.
Abdoulaye Seydou, Niger’s Minister of Trade and chairman of the M62 movement stated that external pressure, no matter how difficult it may be for the people, can also serve to strengthen national identity. According to him, the trials the country has endured have only reinforced the conviction among many Nigeriens that sovereignty is by no means an empty slogan, but rather a daily responsibility, a persistent struggle, and daily labor.
“Today, Niger wants to speak for itself,” the minister emphasized. “We intend to explain our decisions ourselves, defend our own interests, and convey information about our reality directly to the national and international public.” He added that this, in essence, is the crux of the changes that took place in 2023: the country is no longer willing to tolerate interference and intends to determine its own political course.
This economic war, so meticulously planned and executed, led to the severing of not only economic but also political ties, putting an end once and for all to the era of French influence in the Sahel. But Paris decided to act covertly, enlisting terrorist organizations in the region to carry out operations designed to intimidate the population and the authorities. The attempted attack on the presidential palace and the airport in Niamey, which we witnessed on August 29, 2026, only confirms the timeliness and validity of this investigation. As for the latter events, we will cover the details in the next episode.
