Niger’s military government has announced the nationalisation of the country’s sole industrial gold mine, accusing its Australian operator of “serious breaches” as the junta seeks greater control of natural resources.
The military junta has ruled the West African nation since seizing power in a 2023 coup, promising to crack down on Niger’s myriad security issues.
Juntas in Niger, neighbouring Burkina Faso and Mali have ramped up pressure on foreign mining companies in recent years, with Niger nationalising the local branch of French uranium giant Orano in June.
So the nation can share its own wealth instead of bowing to modern day colonialism
Let’s hope so. Military juntas don’t have a great track record though.
Neocolonialism wasn’t doing the country any favors either
It’s a military dictatorship, that wealth is going to the military leadership, and no one else.
No, that’s not how it works. Previously, all of the wealth was going to Australian imperialists and a few compradors, now that wealth stays within Niger. Through opposing Australian imperialism and nationalizing industry, Niger gets to use that wealth on developing themselves, which is in the interests of the proletariat of Niger. This is a fantastic thing, and you’re finger-wagging them for kicking out the imperialists.
I’m saying that a dictatorship never cares about the people.
Because Niger is a military dictatorship not a communist utopia.
At best, that wealth will be spent on a lavish palace that will be used by the general and only the general.
At worst, it will buy weapons that will be used to further subjugate the people.
The post-coup government is broadly supported by its people precisely because it kicked out the comprador government that actually did spend all of their kickbacks on lavish material goods as bribery from siphoning all of that wealth outside. You’re justifying the western narrative against the Sahel States despite the people supporting the new government as though you know better than them. No investigation, no right to speak.
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Nice bit of ableism there. I’m going to cheer for what materially benefits the people of Niger and how they choose to chart their own course, and I’m going to call out chauvanists that think they should be able to tell the people of Niger what to think and how to best express their soveriengty.
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At worst, I’d say it’s a neutral change. Even the scenarios you’ve outlined are better than the alternative. But the truth is, we won’t know until we know. Simple as that.
For what it’s worth, I don’t think they are a communist utopia either, and I think people get carried away hyping them up. I just don’t think arguing about it is a hill worth dying on.
Fuck yea. Imperialists out!
Based and correct
Rad.
W
Amazing
Imperialism slowly dying
Acceleraring its demise, too!
yes!
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Lol.
I saw this and was going to say “I kinda wanna say this is good, but I’m skeptical of Niger’s government to share the wealth with its people etc etc.” and then I see “Niger’s military government” in the preview.
Sigh.
So instead of wanting Niger to have sovereignty over its own industry, you’d trust western imperialists to share the wealth more? This is absurd, the only way to kick out imperialists is through nationalization of imperialized industry.
Gonna block ya.
The bad faith arguments and dogpiling to fit in gets old.
It’s not being bad-faith, you made a bad argument in favor of Australian imperialists. People are calling you out for it, deservedly so. “Fitting in” has nothing to do with it.
I’m not going to suggest european/western companies be “better” for a country and continent that has suffered centuries of abuses by those same people, but at the same time it is perfectly sane to question whether or not a military junta, in an area historically also terrorized by those same kinds of “leaders”, won’t just siphon off all the money to foreign bank accounts until they too are killed or run away to another country and live off their gains.
That’s not an argument in favor of either group, it’s saying maybe out of the frying pan and into the fire.
And I am saying that suggesting that the conditions on the ground in Niger will be the same or worse, without actually doing the research into why this is happening or why the people of Niger support this overwhelmingly, just cedes the narrative to western imperialists unhappy that Niger is charting its own course. The only way for the development of Africa is to throw off the reigns of imperialism the west has shackled them to.
Even if the new gov does disproportionately benefit from this move, the wealth will stay more in Niger, whereby the national bourgeoisie will at minimum be incetivized into expanding production and continuing development on Niger’s own terms. That’s the worst-case scenario from this, the best case is that the gov itself directs this new wealth directly into expanded production and infrastructural development. Either case is much better for the people of Niger, which is why they support it so strongly.
You really need to “research” it after already laying blame? Quire apparent your mind is made up.
Yea, because I’ve been following what’s been going on in the Sahel States enough to know that this is a good thing, and that those who just cede the narrative to the imperialists they are throwing off are doing more harm than anything else.
Boo hoo our imperial corporations can no longer terrorize this piece of africa, continuing in our proud colonialist legacy. Yes lets be sceptical of the military kicking them out(hopefully). Lets address THEIR democratic record. Who do you think you can fool here? When the government in Burkina Faso took power same argument could be made. Yet they invest massively in for example agriculture industry. They prop up education for young children. Compare this to what was there before.
I hope that this will become liberation to the Niger and others soon to follow.
It’s Africa. With all the imperialist Western meddling and bribery there is no possibility for Democracy to help their population.
Sorry fella, but you need to judge a government by the policies it applies, not simply to the form it takes.
This over attachment to the form makes up many smug liberals who are often unpoliticized, misrepresented by the very representatives they elect, which only do the bidding of powerful lobby groups tied to the financial sector.
The liberal voting system, along with the multi-party system, hasn’t been capable, for a long time, to guarantee that people’s voice are being heard. The people in the West, for a long time, is holding this smug attitude as if they were the pinnacle of civilization, when in fact they are the biggest fools and jesters of the world who are constantly squabbling against each other and persecuting minority groups while they are being robbed blind by equity, rent, taxes, interest rates, and having their jobs being moved to other places.
So, yeah, Niger maybe a dictatorship of a military junta but they are taking the steps of getting rid of their Western parasites, the same people that make your life harder at each passing day, while you are complaining about they not being pure enough or for not conforming with your stupid idealization of how government systems should work. Stop being a fool and instead of arrogantly complaining and diminishing their actions, go read something organize and do something productive. Stop being a fool, for god’s sake!
I was thinking the same. It would be nice if the profits end up benefiting the people but it might end up benefiting just the select few elites. Local elites but still.
The privatized system already only benefited the Australian elites and compradors in Niger. Nationalization directly keeps the wealth in Niger, and not flowing out to Australia. This is anti-imperialism in action, and you’re finger-wagging them for it.
Uhm, that’s what i was saying. Before it was foreign elite few who benefited from it, now it might unfortunately still be elite few, but local.
This is anti-imperialism in action, and you’re finger-wagging them for it.
I’m just saying i wish the money will end up benefiting the people at large, not a select few. If it’s some military junta who will use it to buy gold plated Rolls-Royces while the people live in poverty then of course I’m going to finger wag at that lol
Your immediate insinuation that kicking out foreign plunder, therefore freeing up resources for domestic development of their own industry, somehow is the exact same and that this must be the case, is an extremely western-centric viewpoint and is chauvanistic.
Nope. I’m apprehensive because it’s a military junta behind it.
Niger is in the Alliance of Sahel States, a progressive coalition of anti-imperialist countries in Africa turning their backs on France, Austrailia, and other imperialists. You’re accepting the imperialist framing of a popularly supported government that couped the old, French comprador government that did the exact thing you accuse the new government of doing.
No investigation, no right to speak. You’re acting like a parrot for French propaganda.
The text in the OP and the article it links to is talking about a military junta…
Maybe give it more than five minutes before deciding they’re doing it wrong.
I mean the whole point was that I’m hoping they aren’t
