French nuclear company Orano explores sale of Niger uranium assets

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French state-owned nuclear fuel company Orano is exploring the sale of its uranium assets in Niger after the breakdown of its relationship with the west African country’s military rulers.

Orano operates three mines in Niger in a joint venture with the Russian-backed government that seized power in a coup two years ago, but was stripped of its rights over one project in June and forced to stop work at another soon after because of financial pressures.

It said at the time that Niger had blocked uranium exports and halted payments of its obligations as joint venture partners since the 2023 coup that toppled the country’s pro-western government.

This has forced Orano to look at a possible sale of its Niger assets, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.

The withdrawal of Orano would be the latest confirmation of the loss of French influence in the region and the failure of its “Françafrique” policy under which Paris sought to maintain influence in its former colonies. France has also withdrawn soldiers from Chad, Mali and Burkina Faso in recent years.

The sales process risks being politically fraught for the French government, which owns 90 per cent of the business, with Russian and Chinese buyers said to be circling the assets.

Orano in December said that it no longer controlled any of its subsidiaries in Niger and launched several international arbitration cases against the state. Orano also began legal proceedings against the junta after its offices were raided by Niger’s intelligence agency this month, leading to the arrest of a local company director.

Orano declined to comment on the sales process, saying it was focused on its arbitration cases. But in a statement to the Financial Times it said that “several parties have expressed their interests for the mining assets of the group in Niger and are at liberty to submit offers if they wish to”.

Curzon Uranium, part of the Curzon group of companies, is one of those seeking to buy the Niger assets, said its founder Nick Clarke.

“We need to find a peaceful solution to this that gets the product moving,” said Clarke, adding he was “actively engaged” with an unnamed Middle Eastern investor over a joint purchase, with Chinese and Russians buyers also rumoured. “It will be a competitive process,” he said.

Niger is a relatively small player in uranium, producing about 5 per cent of global output, but it plays an outsized role in France and supplies about a fifth of the country’s natural uranium.

Analysts have warned of a looming uranium supply crunch, as nations including China and the US look to deploy more nuclear. The radioactive metal is turned into the fuel used to power nuclear reactors.

Niger is part of the “coup belt” across west and central Africa where militaries have ousted a host of governments in recent years. Niger, alongside Burkina Faso and Mali, have all drawn closer to Russia at the expense of former colonial power France and the west.

Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali have introduced new mining codes granting them access to a greater share of mining revenues and a larger stake for the governments. Niger’s government has been approached for comment.