Meet the victors in Africa’s coup belt

The West’s relations with countries in the Sahel seemed to have hit rock bottom in May when Niger ordered America to withdraw its forces by September—having already booted out a French counter-terrorism mission—and welcomed Russian military advisers. Then even this bottom fell out. Last month Niger, which supplies about a quarter of Europe’s uranium, revoked the mining licence of France’s state-owned nuclear-fuel company. Many fear the country will now hand over the rights to one of the world’s biggest uranium mines to a state-owned Russian firm.