Niger Suspends Uranium, Gold Exports to France

Reports revealed that Niger issued a decision to stop gold and uranium exports to France.

Niger represents a valuable treasure for France, as it is one of Paris's strongest allies in the Sahel and Sahara countries, as well as being a major source of supply of uranium used in the production of electricity for millions of families in the country, according to Sky News Arabia.

In 2021, Niger supplied nearly 25 percent of the uranium supply to members of the European Union (EU), helping produce electricity for millions of households.

The French nuclear company has been mining Niger's uranium reserves since 1970.

In March 2021, Niger shut down the Kominac mines near the northern town of Arlit, but the local population was left to live with 20 million tons of radioactive material at the mine site, according to the France-based Independent Commission for Research and Information on Radioactivity.

About 35 percent of the uranium used in French reactors in 2020 came from Niger.