Niger was the hub of France's Sahel posture after the 2022 withdrawal from Mali. The military authorities that took power in July 2023 denounced the defence agreements within a month; France withdrew about 1,500 troops by 22 December 2023 and closed its embassy in January 2024.
A symmetric arrangement: it reads the same from either side. Authored once, on one record.
The arrangement
- Status
- EndedEnded, on the date the record states. A historical relationship, not a weakened one.Last material change: 2023-12-22.
- What it covers
- DefenceCounter-terrorismBasingTrainingCategories the arrangement is documented to include. Not a measure: a relationship covering more of them is described in more detail, not held more firmly.
Summary
Defence cooperation between France and Niger dates from the 1961 agreements that followed independence and was renewed in a 2013 arrangement under which Niamey's Base 101 hosted French aircraft and, after the 2022 departure from Mali, the largest French contingent in the region. The Conseil national pour la sauvegarde de la patrie denounced the military agreements on 3 August 2023, a week after the coup; France initially refused to recognise the authorities, then announced on 24 September that its ambassador and forces would leave. The withdrawal completed on 22 December 2023, the embassy closed in January 2024, and Russian trainers arrived at Base 101 in May 2024, while American forces were still there. No French military presence has returned and the base now hosts the Russian contingent and the AES joint command.
Why it matters
This termination is the pivot of the module's external-actor story in Niger: the air cover and intelligence the western garrisons relied on left with it, the Russian presence arrived into the space it vacated, and the state's war in Tillabéri has been fought since without either. It is also the second of three French exits — Mali in 2022, Niger in 2023, Burkina Faso in between — that made the AES possible.
Agreements
- Defence cooperation agreements between France and Niger · signed 1961 · ended 2023-08-03
The 1961 agreements and their successors, denounced by the CNSP on 3 August 2023; texts not read, terms not authored.
Related events
- Niger's presidential guard deposes President Bazoum Jul 2023
Political · Leadership change
- The United States withdraws from Niger May – Sep 2024
Military · Diplomatic
Organisations
Structures through which this relationship operates. Not parties to it — the parties are the two actors above.
Places
Markers this module already publishes. This record adds no geographic precision of its own.
What remains unknown
- The residual channels between the two governments since January 2024 are not described by either; the record states that the security relationship ended and does not characterise what replaced it.
Watch questions this relationship bears on
Standing analytical questions whose evidence runs through this relationship, each with its latest review. Derived from the Watch object, never restated here.
All Sahel relationships Open in Explore
Assessed as of — 2024-01 Last reviewed — 2026-09-14