Overview

• The junta declared the decision on national television, accusing the French state-owned miner of illegal and disloyal conduct
• Orano holds a 63% stake in Somair while Niger’s state-run Sopamin owns the remaining shares
• Niger revoked Orano’s Imouraren mining permit in June 2024 and assumed operational control of Somair last December
• Orano has launched multiple arbitration cases and sued after Nigerien authorities raided its offices and its local director disappeared
• The move threatens to disrupt Niger’s uranium exports and deepens an already strained relationship with Paris