The Heat: Niger Coup

The Heat

Anand Naidoo

Anand Naidoo

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Published August 18, 2023 at 9:01 AM

The coup in Niger. What’s ahead as the crisis continues?   

It has been more than three weeks now since a military coup ousted Niger’s president Mohamed Bazoum.   

Since then, he has been in detention while the 15-member West African regional bloc, also known as ECOWAS, has called for his reinstatement. The coup seems to have strong support but its leaders face a threat of military intervention by ECOWAS.   

Defense chiefs from the group met in Accra on Thursday. And, the bloc says most of its member states stand ready to take part in a standby force that could intervene in Niger if diplomatic efforts to reverse the coup fail.   

Meanwhile, the coup leaders have called for deposed President Bazoum to be prosecuted for treason.     

Joining the discussion:

  • Kingsley Moghalu is a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria. 
  • David Otto Endeley is Director for the Geneva Center for Africa Security and Strategic Studies. 
  • Nabila Ramdani is a French-Algerian journalist.
  • Abdullahi Boru Halakhe is an Africa security and policy analyst.