Niamey, Niger – (AFP) – Niger’s junta chief has named a new ambassador to Benin in the latest sign of thawing tensions between the two west African neighbours, according to a decree published on Wednesday.
Chaibou Kadade was appointed as ambassador by General Abdourahamane Tiani, according to a decree signed on Tuesday which appeared in the Niger government daily Le Sahel.
Benin had previously issued an authorisation to the diplomat in October.
Ties between the two neighbours had been strained following the military coup that overthrew Niger’s elected president Mohamed Bazoum in July 2023.
A tug of war then broke out over landlocked Niger’s export of oil via the Beninese coast and disputes over the opening of their shared border, with relations souring further after May 2024.
But in recent months signs of a reconciliation have grown.
In mid-November, Benin loosened its border controls to allow the free movement of people and certain goods to and from Niger, although Niger has maintained its border closure.
Two months earlier in August Benin’s new envoy to Niger, Gildas Djobloski Agonkan, took up his post in Niamey.
That followed the West African regional bloc ECOWAS lifting sanctions on Niger in February, paving the way for Benin to normalise relations with Niamey.
Yet Niger has refused to reopen its side of the border with Benin, accusing its neighbour of hosting French bases aimed at “destabilising” Niger.
Both Benin and former colonial ruler France deny the claims.
Relations also frayed over Benin’s suspension of its authorisation to load Nigerien oil at the Seme-Kpodji port, with the oil transported to the Beninese coast via a huge pipeline managed by the Chinese company WAPCO.
The pipeline and the oil it pumps are vital to both Niger’s and Benin’s economies.
© Agence France-Presse
