Niger Junta suspends major french media outlets over alleged security threats

Niger’s military-led government has suspended about ten media organisations linked to France, accusing them of actions that threaten public order.

In a statement broadcast on state television on Friday, the authorities listed outlets including France 24, Radio France Internationale (RFI), TV5 Monde, Agence France-Presse (AFP), TF1 Info, Jeune Afrique, Mediapart, LSI Africa and France Afrique Media among those affected by the suspension.

The decision marks another escalation in strained relations between Niger and France, its former colonial power, amid growing anti-French sentiment across parts of the region.

West Africa has in recent years become a shifting arena of geopolitical influence, with military governments in countries such as Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso severing long-standing security ties with France following a wave of coups.

French troops previously deployed across the Sahel have been withdrawn from these countries as their ruling juntas increasingly tilt toward alternative partners, including Russia and China.

France, which once maintained extensive influence across West, Central and North Africa, has continued to face declining political and military presence in the region since the early 1960s, despite ongoing diplomatic engagement.