Niger’s President Mohamed Bazoum criticized the media for creating the impression that the west African country is beset by security challenges and not a safe place to invest.
He said in an interview with the French news outlet Les Echos, on the sidelines of the Franco-African leaders summit in Paris that took place on Tuesday, that Westerners have an outdated mindset when it comes to Niger’s investment partnerships with countries like China and Turkey:
LES ECHOS: Are investments discouraged by security issues?
PRESIDENT MOHAMED BAZOUM: Niger, although it is in the heart of the Sahel, is the country least impacted in this region by security problems. This is a problem at the borders with Mali and in the Lake Chad Basin. But outside of these areas, we are a normal country. The media confuses things. Some Western countries wrongly advise their citizens not to go to Niger, let alone invest there.
On the other hand, other actors, Chinese and Turkish in particular, come to make investments. And Westerners complain about it. They are victims of a certain vision of the world.
Read the full interview (in French) on the Les Echos website.
