Niger’s military‐led government has signed a joint‐venture deal with Dubai’s Suvarna Royal Gold Trading LLC, a firm controlled by controversial Kenyan businessman Kamlesh Pattni to build the West African nation’s first domestic gold‑refining and jewellery complex.
- •Kamlesh Pattni was sanctioned by the U.S. and U.K. in December last year for allegedly leading a global gold smuggling and money laundering network based in Zimbabwe, which deprived the country of its natural resource revenues.
- •Under the pact with Niger’s government, Suvarna will jointly create Royal Gold Niger SA to construct a refinery, precious‑stone‑cutting line, and jewelry plant near the capital Niamey.
- •Niger will hold an equity stake, hoping to capture more value from its gold deposits; as in 2023, the country exported gold worth US$547 million — according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC).
“It is a structural revolution because, from now on, Niger’s gold will no longer just be extracted, it will be processed here, for the benefit of Nigeriens,” said Niger’s Minister of Mines, Commissioner Colonel Abarchi Ousmane.
Pattni is infamous for Kenya’s Goldenberg scandal that rocked the nation’s economy in the 1990s. It involved the embezzlement of billions in state funds through fraudulent gold and diamond export incentives, with money diverted to fictitious export transactions orchestrated by the businessman.
Amid rising legal pressure, Pattni fled Kenya and returned only after the government agreed to drop charges against him. He then morphed into a Christian preacher but resurfaced on an Al-Jazeera investigation on a gold smuggling ring in Zimbabwe. He was then blacklisted by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control and simultaneously hit with U.K. asset freezes.
Niger hopes that the completion of the refining complex would position it to compete with other established West African refiners in Ghana and Burkina Faso, as well as boost the mining‑sector tax receipts, and formalize small‑scale production.
The financial terms of the deal with Suvarna were not disclosed. Niger remains one of the world’s poorest countries despite owning abundant deposits of uranium and gold, minerals that are in heavy demand. This is because it relies on artisanal mining.
“While artisanal gold mining has become a pillar of livelihood for many Nigerien families since the 1950s, it is our responsibility to structure this sector, protect it from illicit networks and make it a source of tax revenue, job creation and local training,” Ousmane said.
Niger is under a transitional military government led by General Abdourahamane Tchiani, who toppled President Mohamed Bazoum in July 2023, citing the civilian government’s failure to curb jihadist violence. Tchiani has dissolved the constitution and expelled Western troops — both the U.S and France — aligning with Russia instead.
Sworn in last month as “transitional” leader under a charter that allows five years before new elections, he has defied ECOWAS demands for a faster handover, banned political parties and co-founded the Alliance of Sahel States with Burkina Faso and Mali.