Niger misses $24.2 million debt payments as sanctions bite
Niger missed debt payments of $24.2 million on its domestic bonds in the past week as sanctions after a 2023 coup blocked its access to the regional capital market.
The government missed a 13.4 billion CFA franc ($22 million) principal payment on a one-year bond that matured Feb. 16, the regional market for government securities, UMOA-Titres said in a statement. The West African nation also missed interest payments of 1.07 billion franc and 284 million franc on two seven-year notes due 2027 and 2030 respectively, it said.
Niger’s arrears since soldiers ousted President Mohamed Bazoum on July 26 amounts to $604 million, an official of UMOA-Titres said by phone.
The incident “has occurred within the context of sanctions imposed on Niger,” UMOA-Titres said in the statement.
Niger together with Mali and Burkina Faso — also under military rule — last month announced their exit from the Economic Community of West African States, the 48-year-old regional bloc they helped found. The bloc has imposed sanctions on the nations and pushed for a return to civilian rule.
Ministers from the three governments last week adopted a treaty in Burkina Faso’s capital, Ouagadougou, reaffirming a commitment to form a union of states that’d be known as the Alliance of Sahel States.
