The appointment follows the deadline set by the Economic Commission of West African States (ECOWAS) to reinstate ousted President Mohamed Bazoum, who was has been under a sort of house arrest by orders of the military government since July 26.

The statement with the designation of the new prime minister was released in a laconic announcement read on a television broadcast to the whole country by the official spokesman of the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP, according to its acronym in French), Colonel Amadou Abdrahman.

The new chief of the ministerial council of Niger has served as head of the Prime Minister’s Office in 2001 and minister of Finance the next year, as well as resident representative of the African Development Bank in Chad, Côte d’Ivoire and Gabon.

Given his credentials, the new prime minister, who has no military background, gives the CNSP a broader membership and provides it with a figure of sufficient prestige to lead an increasingly visible negotiating process with ECOWAS in the near future.

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