• The United States will begin plans to withdraw troops from Niger, in what experts say is a blow to Washington and its allies in the region in terms of staging security operations in the Sahel. 

• The Prime Minister of Niger, appointed by the ruling military junta, Ali Lamine Zeine, and US deputy secretary of state Kurt Campbell, agreed that the two nations would begin to plan the withdrawal of American troops.

• Niger plays a central role in the US military’s operations in Africa’s Sahel region, an area on the edge of the Sahara Desert. 

• Niger is home to a major US air base, in the city of Agadez, about 920 kilometres from the capital, Niamey, using it for manned and unmanned surveillance flights and other operations.

• The US has also invested hundreds of millions of dollars in training Niger’s military since it began operations there in 2013.

• But relations have frayed between Niger and Western countries since mutinous soldiers ousted the country’s democratically elected President in July 2023. 

• Niger’s junta has since told French forces to leave and turned instead to Russia for security. 

• Earlier this month, Russian military trainers arrived to reinforce the country’s air defences and with Russian equipment to train Nigeriens to use.

• The loss of access to air bases in Niger is a major setback for the US and its allies in the region because of its strategic location for security operations in the Sahel.

Key facts about Niger:

• Niger is a landlocked country in West Africa named after the Niger River. 

• Niger is bordered by Libya to the northeast, Chad to the east, Nigeria to the south, Benin to the southwest, Mali to the north-west, Burkina Faso to the south-west, and Algeria to the northwest.

• It is the largest country in West Africa.

• Over 80 per cent of its land area lies in the Sahara Desert. 

• The capital and largest city is Niamey, located in Niger’s southwest corner.

• Niger is one of the world’s poorest nations, often ranking last on the United Nations’ Human Development Index.

• Niger is the world’s seventh-biggest producer of uranium, according to the World Nuclear Association (WNA).

• Niger, which has Africa’s highest-grade uranium ores, produced 2,020 metric tonnes of uranium in 2022, about 5 per cent of world mining output.

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