Niger

China’s $400 million deal with Niger to pay for oil in advance will help the West African nation’s junta pay debt it’s accumulated since a military coup last year, Bloomberg News reported. China National Petroleum Corp. agreed to make an advance payment for crude purchases from Niger’s Agadem field earlier this month, Radio Television du Niger reported on April 13. The junta will use the proceeds to settle debt payments, Ibrahim Hamidou, head of communications for Prime Minister Ali Lamine Zeine, said by phone from the capital, Niamey, on Monday.

Niger missed debt payments of $24.2 million on its domestic bonds in the past week as sanctions after a 2023 coup blocked its access to the regional capital market, Bloomberg News reported. The government missed a 13.4 billion CFA franc ($22 million) principal payment on a one-year bond that matured Feb. 16, the regional market for government securities, UMOA-Titres said in a statement. The West African nation also missed interest payments of 1.07 billion franc and 284 million franc on two seven-year notes due 2027 and 2030 respectively, it said.