Junta-led Niger plans to reduce Chinese oil workforce

Niger’s junta-led government has requested the departure of several Chinese nationals working on oil projects, a move expected to impact dozens of employees and further strain relations with Beijing.

Oil Minister Sahabi Oumarou instructed the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and its joint venture refinery, SORAZ, to terminate contracts of expatriate employees who have been in the country for over four years, Reuters reported.

In a letter dated May 21 to SORAZ, Oumarou signalled some flexibility, noting that exceptions could be made depending on the importance of specific staff. Departure decisions, he said, would be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

However, in an earlier letter to CNPC dated May 20, Oumarou declined a request for a private meeting with the company’s CEO and accused CNPC of not complying with local laws.

This follows a March decision by Niger’s military government to expel three senior Chinese executives from the country’s oil sector. The officials, who held key roles at CNPC, the West African Oil Pipeline Company (WAPCo), and the SORAZ refinery, were removed amid tensions over wage gaps between foreign staff and their lower-paid local counterparts.

Since the expulsions, CNPC has been seeking to open dialogue with Nigerien authorities, but tensions remain high.

Military-led governments across West Africa are increasingly asserting control over their natural resources in a bid to boost local employment and claim a greater share of resource profits.

In Niger, the junta has taken several bold steps since seizing power, including scrapping military cooperation agreements with the U.S. and France and taking control of the Somair uranium mine previously operated by French nuclear company Orano.

Similar developments have unfolded in neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso, where military regimes have turned to legal and regulatory tools to consolidate power over valuable commodities like gold.

In January, Canadian mining giant Barrick Gold was forced to temporarily halt operations at its Loulo-Gounkoto complex in Mali after the Malian government seized gold stocks from the site.