Niger’s military government has cancelled mining concessions granted to three gold companies as part of a broader push to tighten control over the country’s natural resources. In a statement released Thursday, authorities said concessions awarded between 2017 and 2020 to Comini, Afrior, and Ecomine were revoked because the companies failed to meet key obligations, including paying required taxes, submitting annual technical and financial reports, and complying with environmental regulations.
The decision comes amid growing efforts by Niger’s ruling junta to assert greater sovereignty over the country’s mineral wealth. Niger currently operates only one industrial gold mine, Samira Gold Mine, which the government nationalized last year. The authorities also rejected a request from Savannah Energy, a British oil and gas firm, to extend its exploration and drilling license in the country’s south-eastern oil region. Officials said the company failed to comply with an output-sharing contract covering four oil blocks located in the Agadem Rift Basin, which is considered Niger’s main oil-producing area.
Savannah Energy has previously announced a significant oil discovery in the basin, which it says covers nearly half of the region’s exploration acreage. Niger, a major producer of uranium and an emerging exporter of oil and gold, has been ruled by a military government since the 2023 coup that ousted President Mohamed Bazoum. Since taking power, the junta has increasingly reviewed foreign mining and energy agreements as it seeks to boost state revenues and national control over strategic resources.
