Niamey has been under sanctions from ECOWAS since the July 26 coup d’état, and Lomé has taken several bilateral initiatives to engage with the Niger regime.

The military regime resulting from a coup d’état in Niger called on Togo on Monday 6 November to act as mediators in its negotiations with the international community, in particular with the West African countries that sanctioned it in the summer. The Minister of Defence of the Niger, General Salifou Moby, met today with Togolese President Faure Gnassingbé in the Togolese capital Lomé.

After the July 26 coup, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) imposed strict financial sanctions on Niger to push the military that had overthrown President Mohamed Bazoum to restore constitutional order.

General Mody denounced these “cynic” sanctions, and thanked Togo for continuing to speak with the military regime after the coup d’état, unlike many other countries. Although a member of ECOWAS, Togo has taken several bilateral initiatives to engage with the Nigerian military regime.

“We have never closed our country to our friends. (…) Niger remains open, even if steps have been taken so that we can no longer talk to them”, General Mody told the press after his meeting with President Gnassingbé. “We have asked the President of the Republic of Togo to be a mediator, to facilitate this dialogue with our various partners,” he added.
Withdrawal of French forces

France, the former colonial power of Niger, engaged an outgency arm with the military regime after the coup, and then began in October, at its request, to withdraw its approximately 1,500 troops deployed in the country.

“We ask Togo, our brotherly country, in view of what it continues to give us, to be our guarantor” within the framework of the agreement governing the French military withdrawal, which “moves forward” and is proceeding « normalement »“normally”, General Mody added.

Togo’s foreign minister, Robert Dussey, said at a press conference that his country was ready to “help as a facilitator” in dialogue between Niger and the international community, thanking General Mody “for having appointed Togo, alongside the United States of America, Togo as a guarantor of the withdrawal of French forces.”

The ruling junta in Niamey rejected the ECOWAS’s demands to restore constitutional order and insists on the need for a transitional period of up to three years to do so, while the country faces two jihadist uprisings in the southeast and west.

Togo regularly attempts to position itself as a mediator in the region. In 2022, he participated in the efforts to release 49 Ivorian soldiers held captive in Bamako, Mali, after being accused of being mercenaries.