US vows support for Niger as China invests and Russia expands nearby

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has offered new aid as he threw his support behind Niger on a rare visit, holding up the Western military partner and new democracy as a model in an insurgency-torn region where Russia is making inroads.

"Niger is a young democracy in a challenging part of the world," Blinken told a news conference in the capital Niamey on Thursday.

"But it remains true to the values we share. Niger has been quick to defend the democratic values under threat in neighbouring countries."

After talks with President Mohamed Bazoum, Blinken announced $150 million in new humanitarian assistance for the Sahel region, including Niger, one of the world's poorest countries.

The funding, which brings the total for the Sahel to $233 million for the fiscal year, includes food aid and support for migrants who have fled to war-ravaged Libya, he said.

Niger has seen stability since a democratic restoration in 2011, as military regimes have taken over in neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso.

Mali has shifted decisively into Russia's orbit, hiring the Wagner mercenary group after French troops withdrew following a nine-year military operation.

Burkina Faso, which saw two coups last year alone, has also fallen out with France, although both the country's military leader and Russia have denied claims including from democratic Ghana that Wagner is operating there.

Nigerien Foreign Minister Hassoumi Massoudou, speaking alongside Blinken, said he had no proof of Wagner activities in Burkina Faso but warned against any movement to the group.

"Our hope," he said, "is that it does not go down this trajectory towards this organisation which we consider criminal and mercenary," he said.

"We see that Wagner is only present in failed or failing states," he said.

"Our democratic institutions can defeat terrorism. In fact, there is no alternative," he said.

Unlike many African diplomats, he also offered a full-throated condemnation of Russia's offensive in Ukraine, noting Niger's own history as a former colony.

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Niger hit by climate crisis 

Blinken began his visit by meeting former rebels who have been rehabilitated through vocational training backed by $20 million in US funding.

The programme is about "giving them a better choice" and is "from our perspective, very much a model that others can look to", Blinken said afterwards.

Blinken also said the United States was committed to working with Niger on environmental challenges.

Niger is one of the countries hit hardest by the climate crisis, losing 100,000 hectares of arable land each year to the desert, according to the United Nations.

The Biden administration launched its bid for greater engagement in Africa in the face of rising investment by China, seen as the top rising challenger to the United States, but concerns have grown more recently about Russia.

Last month, Mali was one of just six countries that joined Russia in voting against a resolution at the United Nations General Assembly urging Moscow to withdraw from Ukraine.

READ MORE: Conflicts, coups and droughts dominate Africa in 2022

Niger has since become the linchpin for French military efforts in West Africa, with 1,000 troops stationed in the country.

The United States also operates so-called Air Base 201 in the centre of the desert country, which is used to fly drones for attacks and surveillance on militants in the Sahel.

Blinken started talks in Addis Ababa on Thursday with the leadership of the African Union, part of the Biden administration's effort to show deference to the region and avoid perceptions of an overbearing US role.

AU-led negotiations, backed by US diplomats, brought about a November 2022 ceasefire that has largely ended the two-year Tigray civil war in Ethiopia.

READ MORE: US accuses Russia of exploiting Africa 'to fund' Ukraine conflict