Niger again fails to meet debt payment as post-coup woes pile

Niger failed to make a debt payment of 13.4 billion CFA francs ($22 million) last week, the West African debt management agency said on Monday (19 February), bringing the total default to $519 million since a coup in July 2023 and its subsequent suspension from regional financial markets.
The West African Economic Monetary Union (WAEMU) debt management agency UMOA-Titres said in a statement that Niger had been “unable to meet its financial obligations on the Government securities market” after it had failed to make a repayment of principal which was due on 16 February. “This situation is carefully monitored by UMOA-Titres in collaboration with the institutions concerned,” the statement added. Following the military coup in July 2023 that ousted a democratically elected president, Niger has been suspended from the regional financial market and the regional central bank by the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
UMOA-Titres also noted that Niger’s failure to make a debt payment needs to be seen in the context of the country being subject to these punitive measures and also sanctions imposed by the ECOWAS. Other countries, including the United States and the European Union, that had provided aid for health, security and infrastructure needs, also suspended their support. But all these measures have had little or no effect on the ambition of the government, which has consolidated its hold on power while millions in Niger face growing hardship. Last week, the leading rating agency Moody’s downgraded Niger’s credit risk rating from Caa2 to Caa3 for the third time since the coup, citing “the sanctions (that) have exacerbated economic difficulties and further hampered the government’s potential ability to meet its obligations.”