ECOWAS Moves Towards Military Intervention In Niger

Wires reporting that the commissioner of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has stated that "All member states except those under military rule and Cape Verde [are] ready to participate in [a] stanby force that could intervene against Niger junta." Earlier, the ECOWAS Peace and Security Commissioner said at the state of a two-day summit of defence chiefs that the "If everything else in Niger fails, ECOWAS force is ready to answer...by all means available constitutional order will be restored in Niger...If push comes to shove, we are going into Niger with our own contingent and resources...We are still giving diplomacy a chance, all options are on the table."

• While the ongoing instability in Niger has had little-to-no impact on financial markets, should ECOWAS intervene militarily it could begin to draw in more focus. The coup leaders are seen to have close links to the Russian private military company (PMC) the Wagner group, led by erstwhile mutineer Yevgeny Prigozhin.
• Wagner has over 1,000 mercenaries in neighbouring Mali that the Niger coup leaders have requested come across the border to aid their efforts. With 1,500 French troops still deployed in Niger, the presence of Wagner actors could risk direct conflict between the Russian mercenaries and NATO forces.