Coup: France To Begin Troop Withdrawal From Niger This Week

The New Diplomat
Writer

Ad

Surprise as Tinubu Overturns NTA shake-up, reinstates Abdullah Dembos, Ayo Adewuyi

By Obinna Uballa President Bola Tinubu has reversed recent leadership changes at the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), ordering the reinstatement of Director-General Salihu Abdullahi Dembos and Executive Director of News Ayo Adewuyi, triggering surprises in the Broadcast industry. The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, confirmed the directive in a…

Chatham House Rebuts Tinubu, Says Corruption Still Crippling Nigeria’s Growth

By Obinna Uballa United Kingdom based policy institute, Chatham House, has countered President Bola Tinubu’s recent claim that his administration has eradicated corruption in Nigeria, asserting that the vice remains deeply entrenched and continues to undermine the country’s economic growth and governance structures. In a new report authored by Dr. Leena Hoffmann, Associate Fellow of…

Ranked: Top Sources of Billionaire Wealth by Industry

Key Takeaways Forbes found finance and investments leads the top sources of billionaire wealth (464 billionaires) in 2025. Technology is the second-most common sector for billionaires (401), adding 59 new names since 2024. The world’s ultra-rich aren’t evenly spread across either the globe or the economy. Instead, their fortunes tend to cluster in a handful of high-growth, high-margin industries. This…

Ad

By Agency Report

France will begin withdrawing its troops from coup-hit Niger this week after President Emmanuel Macron said last month he refused to be “held hostage” by the putchists and was ending military cooperation with the West African country.

The decision to pull 1,500 troops from Niger leaves a gaping hole in Western efforts to counter a decade-long Islamist insurgency. It also deals a huge blow to French influence in the Sahel and could allow Russia to expand its sway over the region’s vast, insecure scrublands.

In a statement on Thursday, the French Armed Forces Ministry said the troops would return to France and that the military exit should be complete by the end of the year.

Niger was the West’s last key ally in the central Sahel region south of the Sahara Desert until a July 26 coup brought in a military junta which called for France to leave.

Macron also pulled his ambassador out of Niger.

Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Nicolas Delame; Editing by Richard Lough and Gareth Jones

NB: Culled from Reuters

Ad

X whatsapp