Carl Bildt: Niger coup could facilitate extreme jihadists in West Africa

Last month’s coup was not an isolated event the rest of the world can afford to ignore, writes Carl Bildt

Supporters of Niger's ruling junta at a demonstration earlier this month as other countries in the region threaten to invade, after a military mutiny ousted the nation’s democratically elected president. File picture: Sam Mednick/AP

In recent years, domestic developments in Niger — indeed, across North Africa’s Sahel region — scarcely attracted attention from the wider world, except in Paris, where French policymakers still took an interest in Francophone Africa. But the military coup in Niger on July 26 has changed everything.

Previously relatively stable and democratic, Niger was seen as the last bulwark against the spread of violence and political turmoil across the region, much of it incited by jihadist movements tied to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.