Federal Government Suspends Development Assistance to Niger Government
Introduction
The federal government announced on Saturday that Canada had decided to suspend direct development assistance to the government of Niger in response to the country’s coup.
The statement also added that the suspension would include Canada’s direct budgetary support for the government of Niger, Reuters reported.
US Government’s Response
On Friday, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced that his government was suspending some of the foreign aid programs that the Niger government is using.
However, he signaled that the US government would continue to provide humanitarian and food aid.
“Do away with the system you know.”
It is noteworthy that on the evening of Wednesday, July 26, the military announced the overthrow of the regime of the elected president of Niger, Mohamed Bazum, in a statement on national television in Niamey on behalf of the “National Council for the Defense of the Nation.”
“We, the defense and security forces, gathered in the National Council for the Defense of the Homeland, have decided to put an end to the regime you know,” Major Colonel Amadou Abdel Rahman said.
“Deteriorating Security Situation”
In turn, on Friday, July 28, the commander of the Niger Presidential Guard, General Abderrahman Chiani, who is behind the coup, appeared on state television as a new strong man in the country. He read out a statement in his capacity as “Chairman of the National Council for the Defense of the Motherland,” that is, the military council that overthrew Azuma.
While Chiani justified the coup by “deteriorating the security situation” in a country where acts of violence are taking place, behind which there are extremist groups.
President Muhammad Bazum has been detained along with his family since the day of the coup at the presidential residence.
Notably, the history of Niger, a country rich in uranium, has been full of upheavals since independence in 1960. The region also knows a state of instability, as Niger is the third country to witness a coup since 2020, after Mali and Burkina Faso.
