APA-Niamey (Niger) – Ali Mahamane Lamine Zeine has expressed his dissatisfaction with the World Bank delegation that came to resume cooperation with Niamey after it was suspended following the coup last July.
During his meeting with a World Bank delegation last Thursday, Ali Mahamane Lamine Zeine, Niger’s Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, expressed his strong dissatisfaction with the Bretton Woods institution, according to the Facebook page of the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP).
While welcoming the resumption of cooperation between the two parties, which was suspended six months ago following the coup, the head of Niger’s government strongly criticised the position taken by the IMF following the army’s seizure of power on 26 July.
In particular, Mr. Zeine stressed that the Bank had taken too long to carry out the assessment necessary to resume cooperation. He also denounced the WB’s hasty support for the punitive sanctions imposed by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
According to him, these sanctions have had a negative impact on Niger, in particular by limiting access to basic necessities such as medicines, food and energy.
“I can’t let this opportunity pass without telling ourselves certain truths,” he said at the meeting, denouncing “the haste with which the World Bank has joined the battery of punitive sanctions adopted by ECOWAS.”
He also questioned the existence of similar measures in the Bank’s texts, which support the closure of borders and sanctions on essential products.
Zeine also expressed his “shock,” recalling what the Bank had been able to do in the country some fifteen years ago, or a little more, in a similar situation. He also pointed out that the coup of 26 July 2023 was “the only non-constitutional change, of the six that the country has experienced, that took place without violence and enjoyed broad popular support.”
“We thought our partners would take this into account,” he said in a disappointed tone.
This reaction underlines the Prime Minister’s concern about the decisions taken by some of Niger’s partners following the events of 26 July, as well as a form of interference in the country’s internal affairs.
ARD/te/lb/as/APA