People protested on Thursday, July 6, in Niger’s capital, Niamey. The action was a general strike called to protest the high cost of basic utilities and services. The strike followed similar actions held on June 22. The umbrella group organizing the protest, the Coalition Against the High Cost of Living, which is led by labor unions, presented the government with a request to reduce prices 30 to 50 percent for basic utilities such as water, electricity and gas as well as medicine.
According to a regional U.N. information network, prices for many basic utilities have risen since the Niger government
started privatizing state-owned utility companies. Due to International Monetary Fund and World Bank dictates, the government of
Niger has been implementing structural reform programs to privatize 12 state-owned companies since the mid-1990s. More than seven have been fully privatized, including the water and telephone utilities.
The city nearly came to a standstill as more than 5,000 people hit the streets to protest. Public transportation sectors, such as buses and taxis, gave vital support and solidarity by refusing to drive that day, keeping many employees away from work.
“This fight we will take to the end until our demands are satisfied,” shouted a woman protester as she marched. “What we want is simply the reduction in tariffs of certain products.” (allAfrica.com, July 7)
Protesters also demanded that the government improve Niger’s education system. Only 14 percent of Niger’s adult population can read and write.
Colonial legacy
Niger is the world’s poorest country, according to the U.N.’s Human Development Index. Average life expectancy is 44 years. But like many African countries living with the legacy of colonialism, the poverty of its population is in stark contrast to Niger’s mineral wealth.
Niger has some of the world’s largest uranium deposits, with uranium providing 72 percent of its income in exports. However, most people don’t benefit from this rare resource, because the country’s two uranium mines are owned by a French-led consortium, operated in the consortium’s interest. France was the former colonial power in Niger and still plays a large role in West Africa, much to the detriment of the African people.
Instead of continuing to siphon resources and profits from the region, France and other European colonizing countries owe nations like Niger reparations for the many years of racist exploitation. But neo-colonial plunder is what the imperialist powers, including France and the United States, seek to continue in Niger and beyond.
The recent protests in Niger are part of an ever-growing disaffection with the dictates of neoliberal capitalist policies across the African continent.
