The United States has approved up to $414m in financing for a uranium project in Niger, potentially opening a new route to a strategic mineral as the West African country’s ties with former partners continue to shift. [File: Joe Penney/Reuters]
The US Development Finance Corp authorised the debt facility for Global Atomic’s Dasa project, the Canadian company said on Wednesday, two years after Washington agreed to pull its troops out of Niger.
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Global Atomic describes Dasa as Africa’s highest-grade uranium deposit.
The financing could strengthen US access to uranium from Niger, the world’s seventh-largest producer, as Niamey remains embroiled in a dispute with French state-backed miner Orano, which for decades held a dominant position in the country’s uranium industry.
People briefed on the initiative said US Ambassador Kathleen FitzGibbon had pressed Washington to repair relations with Niger and support the project after President Donald Trump’s administration returned to office with a stronger focus on commercial deals in Africa.
The United States agreed in 2024 to withdraw roughly 1,000 troops after Niger’s military government, which seized power in a 2023 coup, declared the US presence “illegal” and turned to Russia for security assistance. French forces were also expelled in 2023.
According to the sources, Dasa offered Washington a way to secure a strategic energy resource that could otherwise come under the influence of rival powers.
A source familiar with talks between Global Atomic and the Development Finance Corp said the approval process advanced this summer after chief executive Stephen Roman travelled to Washington to address the remaining obstacles.
The deal could also mark an uncommon area of cooperation between the United States and Canada, whose relationship has been strained by a trade dispute.
Niger’s government did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Major political and security challenges remain around the project.
Authorities said last month that soldiers had attacked a major military airbase, the presidential palace and other sensitive locations in Niamey in an attempted mutiny.
Niger subsequently alleged that France had organised the assault. France denied the accusation.
Because of the security threat, Global Atomic has been examining alternative export routes for uranium from the landlocked country, a source briefed on the discussions said.
One proposal would involve developing a northern route through Algeria and across the Sahara Desert.
Algeria dispatched aircraft to Niger last month to assist the government’s response to the attempted coup, a move that pointed to closer relations between the neighbouring states.
The United States added uranium to its critical minerals list last year, renewing attention on Niger’s reserves.
