On May 18 2026 Niger’s Cabinet approved a decree cancelling the Arlit mining concession — a title originally granted in 1968 to France’s Atomic Energy Commission — declaring the land now free of all rights and returning it fully to the Nigerien people.
The concession covered 360 square kilometres and had been granted for 75 years. France’s nuclear giant Orano — formerly Areva — operated it for over half a century extracting uranium that powered French homes, French hospitals, and French industry while the communities around Arlit remained without reliable electricity.
Niger did not just cancel the contract. It replaced it entirely.
Niger’s Cabinet simultaneously created a new state owned company called Teloua Safeguarding Uranium Mining Company — TSUMCO — to take over all uranium operations on Nigerien soil. Nigerien uranium will now be extracted by Nigerien hands for Nigerien benefit.
And France is not getting away clean either.
Orano still faces outstanding tax obligations and environmental accountability for what Niger describes as dramatic impacts on soil, water resources, and biodiversity around the Arlit mining zone — damage accumulated over five decades of extraction that enriched France and poisoned Nigerien land.
France had already lost Niger as a uranium supplier after the 2023 coup. This week Niger made that separation permanent, legal, and irreversible.
For 58 years Niger’s uranium kept European lights on while Nigeriens sat in the dark. The contract is cancelled. The company is gone. The land belongs to the people it was always supposed to belong to. 🌍🔥
France built 56 nuclear reactors on African uranium. How many schools did it build in Niger?
#HistoricalAfrica #Niger #AES #PanAfrica #AfricaWatch

The Pala University Hospital Centre in Bobo-Dioulasso stands with 500 beds and cutting edge medical technology including an interventional brain and cardiovascular imaging suite using Siemens technology — the first of its kind in the entire sub-region. It includes a dedicated Radiotherapy Centre that now allows Burkinabe cancer patients to receive treatment at home instead of being evacuated abroad at costs most families cannot afford.
A country under sanctions. A country fighting an active insurgency. A country the West declared ungovernable the moment it expelled French forces.
That country built a hospital with brain imaging technology its neighbours do not have.
And Traore announced this is only the beginning — nine additional university hospitals are planned across the country starting with a new facility in Fada N’Gourma.
You can disagree with how Burkina Faso is governed. But you cannot look at a 500 bed university hospital with a cancer treatment centre built in the middle of a war and call it nothing.
This is what it looks like when a government decides its people’s bodies matter. 🌍
Which African country do you think has the most to gain from investing in its own healthcare infrastructure right now?

HistoricalAfrica #BurkinaFaso #AfricaRising #PanAfrica #AfricaWatch

Breaking News:
Niger has successfully pressured China back to the negotiating table after months of disputes over oil operations, labour rights, and resource sovereignty. Xi Jinping’s government has agreed to significant concessions, including a fresh $1 billion investment commitment, reduced pipeline transport fees, and an increased ownership stake for Niamey in key oil infrastructure. The agreement reflects a broader trend of Sahel military governments asserting greater control over foreign partners and strategic resources. As Niger strengthens its grip on oil revenues, Beijing appears ready to compromise in order to secure its substantial energy interests and critical pipeline network across the region.

What is your take on the military leaders in the Sahel countries made up of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger standing up for their national interests and putting Africa first against major world powers such as China, the United States, and France?
Do you believe this is the kind of leadership Africa needs across the continent to fight neocolonialism and foreign imperialist interests?

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