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China-Africa relations
ChinaDiplomacy

In Niger, China’s path to stability may diverge from Western security priorities

  • After July’s military coup in the West African country, observers are watching to see who Beijing works with to help restore stability in the region
  • China has vast economic interests in the Sahel region, which is increasingly ruled by military regimes

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After the coup in Niger, observers say Beijing may want to take a back seat and focus on immediate matters, such as evacuating nationals and protecting Chinese investments. Photo: EPA-EFE
Jevans Nyabiage
Less than two weeks after a military coup in the West African country of Niger, China is unlikely to do much beyond supporting existing mechanisms to solve security threats in the Sahel, a vast region that Beijing has substantial interests in, according to observers.
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After the July 26 coup, Niger became the latest country in the unstable region to join a list of other nations now under military rule – including Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad and Sudan.

The Sahel, a semiarid region south of the Sahara desert, stretches like a belt from the Atlantic coast of Senegal through parts of Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad and Sudan. The transitional zone between the arid Sahara to the humid savannahs to the south has been plagued by political instability and widespread jihadist insurgency.

China, which maintains an official policy of not meddling in the internal affairs of other nations, could opt to bankroll regional security forces, the African Union or UN-led initiatives to cure instability in the Sahel region, according to observers.

“I hope the personal safety of President [Mohamed] Bazoum, a friend of China, could be assured,” Wu Peng, China’s director general of the Department of African Affairs of the Foreign Ministry, said on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, on Wednesday.

Wu said he had noted the statements by the United Nations and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a regional political and economic bloc of 15 countries, that have condemned Bazoum’s removal .

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ECOWAS has given the junta until Sunday to reinstate the democratically elected president.

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