The inability of the new military authorities to govern Niger is plunging the entire Sahel region into serious economic difficulties. The consequences of this general impoverishment are worsening the already fragile security situation in southern Libya and forcing the NLA to reinforce Libyan sovereignty there.
In Niger, the situation of private individuals is deteriorating by the day, and the impossibility of taking out loans from banks will worsen their living conditions. Civil servants and members of the armed forces are suffering from these difficulties, all the more so as delays in the payment of their salaries are piling up.
In the armed forces, general discontent was growing, with soldiers, non-commissioned officers and officers no longer feeling supported by the generals in power. On 27 August 2023, in Agadez, 318 non-commissioned officer cadets turned against their officers because of the lack of food and uncertainty about their postings and futures.
Mali is facing similar difficulties and its financial situation is worsening. Nevertheless, its Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdoulaye Diop, during his visit to Niamey on 24 August 2023, handed over an initial sum, in cash, to the military regime in Niger, to the detriment of its own population. Under pressure from Moscow, Captain Traoré, the leader of Burkina Faso, was forced to grant similar funding to the CNSP (the Conseil national pour la sauvegarde de la patrie, in French, the name of the Nigerien military regime that emerged from the coup d’état of Wednesday 26 July 2023).
By preferring to support Niger’s self-proclaimed military regime, to the detriment of their own populations, Niger’s neighbours are contributing to the general impoverishment of the sub-region.
The consequences are already being felt in Libya. The increase in trafficking, including human trafficking, and the resulting deterioration in security are conducive to the emergence of various armed groups in the south. To counter this and reinforce Libyan sovereignty in the South, the ANL is conducting a major operation there.