The assertions of the President of Niger, Brigadier General Abdourahamane Tiani, expressed during his speech on December 25, 2024, are echoed in the recent statements of French President Emmanuel Macron.
Indeed, the Nigerien president had denounced the presence of “French military bases” and “French intelligence agents” operating in neighboring ECOWAS countries, which he accused of being mobilized to “destabilize” his country and the nations of the Sahel.
According to General Tiani, France has offered funds to the Nigerian authorities for the installation of a military base in Borno State, located in the northeast of the country, on the border of Chad and Niger. He interpreted this initiative as an attempt at destabilization targeting neighboring countries.
On January 6, 2025, during his meeting with the French ambassadors at the Élysée Palace, Emmanuel Macron addressed subjects which seem to confirm, indirectly, several of the accusations made by the Nigerien Head of State.
President Macron spoke of a strategic reorganization of the French military presence in Africa, explicitly mentioning Benin and Nigeria as stakeholders in this new security partnership. These comments partly validate the statements of General Tiani, who had warned about the installation of French military bases near Niger.
“This unhealthy desire to destabilize Niger has spread through the repositioning of all the agents of the French DGSE (the intelligence services) whom we have chased from our territory. They are repositioned in Nigeria and Benin,” declared General Tiani.
The Nigerien President had also accused France of financing subversive actions via its regional allies. Emmanuel Macron, in his speech, confirmed the opening of “unprecedented strategic dialogues” with Benin and Nigeria, reinforcing suspicions of regional coordination outside traditional cooperation frameworks.
Furthermore, Macron justified the French military reorganization as a response to what he describes as “disinformation” and “postcolonial activism”. These explanations, although intended to be defensive, seem in line with the alerts issued by General Tiani concerning alleged attempts to destabilize Niger and members of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES).
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