The coup in Niger, led by General Abdourahamane Tchiani, head of the presidential guard of the ousted president, Mohamed BazoumThis has worried French President Emmanuel Macron, who convened an emergency Security Council meeting on a Saturday at 3:00 p.m. An unusual time, were it not for the fact that France needs uranium from Niger to operate the nuclear power plants that supply electricity to the entire country. "We will not tolerate any attack against France and its interests in Niger," Macron declared from the Élysée Palace. France is the leading nuclear energy power in Europe and the second largest in the world, after the United States. In fact, more than half of its production—64.67% of its total electricity—comes from nuclear power, according to data from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

"We are facing a new cold war in the Sahel, which has become Europe's new geopolitical laboratory," says Beatriz Mesa, researcher and professor at Gaston Berger University. The coup in Niger has shifted the pieces of the game in the international and geopolitical sphere. Two blogs have spoken out and taken a position.

Niger expects a military response from Nigeria, Benin, Ivory Coast and Senegal after the Nigerien military junta ignored the ECOWAS ultimatum (Economic Community of West African States) to "restore constitutional order" and release President Mohamed Bazoum. The deadline was 11 p.m. last Sunday, and this group of governments had warned that they would take military action to restore order in the Sahel country.

The chairman of the ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) commission, Omar Touray, announced in a statement that ECOWAS has ordered the "immediate activation of the West African community's standby forces" and the "deployment" of these forces.to restore constitutional order in NigerThey have not specified in which territory or border they would deploy them, but these "standby forces" refer to a military force of the group of African countries that has about 2,500 soldiers from the different member states.

“From now on, the Sahel’s resources should benefit Sahelians and partners who understand the paradigm shift in today’s diplomacy,” says Azise Sodore, head of the geography department at Joseph Ki-Zerbo University in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. The Sahel is the semi-desert belt between the Sahara Desert to the north and the Sudanese region to the south, stretching 5,000 kilometers between the Atlantic Ocean and the Red Sea. “The Sahel’s natural resources have made it the target of geopolitical and geostrategic plans,” Sodore says, noting the greed of those who want to exploit them.

A group of soldiers organized under the name of the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Homeland (CNSP) announced on Niger's state television on the night of July 26-27 that they had overthrown President Mohamed Bazoum after holding him captive throughout Wednesday in the presidential palace in the capital, Niame. The UN has suspended its humanitarian aid program in the country, which benefited 4.3 million people.