The Africa Report: 500 days on, Niger’s democratically elected president must not be forgotten

Target of an attempted coup d’État, Mohamed Bazoum, in Niamey in 2023, is being held by soldiers of the presidential guard in his residence. (Vincent Fournier for JA)

By Jeffrey Smith

Today marks a somber occasion in Niger. It has been 500 days since a military junta stole the country’s hard-won democracy.

For 500 days, unelected leaders have ruled over a once hopeful country by fiat with no timetable for elections. They have trampled on basic freedoms and imprisoned hundreds of citizens – chief among them, the elected president, Mohamed Bazoum, who, in 2021, completed the first peaceful handover of power in Niger’s history.

Since 26 July 2023, President Bazoum has been detained along with his wife, confined to a small wing of the presidential palace, a veritable human shield for his captors who rule from the same palace.

Held incommunicado

After his phone was taken away last October, he has been unable to communicate with his family, friends, and even his lawyers. Stripped of his dignity and faced with an ever-looming threat of prosecution, with a possible death sentence at the hands of a corrupt military court, President Bazoum nevertheless remains resolute. His constitution is unbowed.

Yet now the world and fellow democrats – Washington in particular, which stood behind President Bazoum early on – seem to have forgotten him. The calls for his release have become sparse and ritualistic at best.

As a longtime pro-democracy advocate, one who has worked with dozens of reformers and heads of state across the African continent, I can attest to the fact that a yearning to live free binds us together, whether in Niamey or Washington.

Nigeriens experienced firsthand the fruits of democracy, many of which were ushered in during President Bazoum’s abbreviated tenure. They have now experienced what it is like to suffer under a military dictatorship. Let me be frank: it is not the fairytale that the camouflage-clad regime has attempted to sell the world.

Under civilian rule – which was underpinned by credible and transparent elections – Niger achieved widespread progress, most notably in the advancement of girls’ education. Under President Bazoum’s democratic administration, per capita income expanded by 26%, reversing a decades-long decline.

Economic progress stalled

According to the World Bank, real GDP growth in 2023, before the military coup, was nearly 7%  with a previously forecasted 13% growth rate this year. Overall, the country’s Human Development Index – a composite measure used by the UN Development Programme – also showed consistent improvement.

This is despite major exogenous shocks like the Covid-19 pandemic and a rising influx of refugees fleeing other coup-stricken countries in the region, including from Mali and the Central African Republic.

Today, economic progress in Niger has stalled, with GDP growth reducing by -1.7% per capita.

Under President Bazoum’s leadership, Niger improved its ranking on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index, a score buoyed by the implementation of essential auditing practices that both exposed and held accountable those responsible for shady defence-procurement deals.

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As of today, the junta has missed four debt payments and also defaulted on $519m in debt. This economic malpractice is compounded by a lack of government transparency. In February, for example, the junta abrogated those oversight laws that had once required transparent accounting of the defence sector.

Human rights lacking

Unsurprisingly since the coup, basic human rights, such as freedom of expression, have also been severely curtailed. Independent journalists face arrests, threats, and constant harassment for reporting the truth.

Political space has shrunk considerably, with the junta banning the activities of all political parties and arresting key members of the former Bazoum government as well as his supporters. The coup’s aftermath has wrought a surge in militant activities and civilian casualties with severe socioeconomic consequences for all Nigeriens.

In short, the differing trend lines under military versus civilian government in Niger could not be starker.

In an age in which autocrats across the globe are flexing their muscles and feeling more emboldened than ever, it must also be stressed that President Bazoum stood with the US, sticking out his neck at a time when it was not perceived as beneficial for him to do so.

From early on, President Bazoum relied on principle and solidified himself as a trusted and valuable partner to Washington in a region otherwise awash in affinity for the autocratic leanings of Moscow, Beijing, and Tehran.

For example, Russia’s so-called Africa Corps – a successor to the Wagner Group – has stated plans to deploy to Niger. The junta also hosted Russia’s deputy defence minister in late 2023 and later travelled to both Russia and Iran, prompting legitimate concerns about access to Niger’s considerable uranium deposits.

President Bazoum stood with Washington, and on the side of democratic progress and prosperity, during moments of global consequence. The world needs more leaders like him, to draw inspiration and to inherit tangible lessons of what it takes to lead with integrity under exceedingly difficult circumstances.

If Washington wishes to maintain the mantle of the world’s most robust, resilient democracy, then its silence on President Bazoum’s captivity is untenable.

To be sure, democracy in Niger may not be possible to resuscitate in the short term. The US, however, should forcefully call for the unconditional and immediate release of President Bazoum. This would be a call to action much bigger and more consequential than just Niger.

It would speak to fundamental issues of decency while demonstrating that Washington will not let those down who still place trust in its leadership. Silence on this matter is not – and it never was – a viable option.