The place of the uranium industry and prospects for creating a growth pole in Niger

Abstract

With the prospect of exploiting the Imouraren uranium deposits in the north of the country, this article looks at the contours of an industrialization strategy based on the creation of a growth pole in this part of the country. Firstly, the paper shows how the concept of a growth pole has evolved into that of a competitiveness pole. It then examines the dependence of the Niger economy on uranium mined by the two major French companies since the early 1970s. Drawing lessons from the unequal sharing of uranium rents and the nature of this mineral, it proposes the creation of a growth pole that could evolve into the establishment of a Niger cluster. The success of this industrial development strategy requires the involvement of all competent partners from both North and South in the field of uranium mining, sales, and purchases. Such a policy aims to reduce the economic and socio-political crises that affect the evolution of economic parameters. It can be generalized to put Niger's territories in competition with each other.