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HARARE, ZIMBABWE | TASS | The United States may open new military bases in Benin, Ivory Coast or Ghana, the AES INFO news outlet reported.
Commenting on this week’s trip to Africa by Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Charles Brown, Jr., the news outlet pointed out that the purpose was to find an alternative to Niger, which recently decided to ask Russia for help with a major military project, which means a major setback for the US. “There are countries in West Africa that we are already working with,” the news agency quoted fragments of Brown’s conversation with journalists accompanying him on the trip. The defense official did not specify which countries, but another senior official clarified that they include Benin, Ivory Coast and Ghana, with which the administration of US President Joe Biden has held preliminary talks.
According to the AES INFO news outlet, the Pentagon will not be able to quickly find an adequate replacement for Niger. The Americans do not expect the construction of a large military base or the deployment of an impressive contingent of troops in Africa in the near future.
In March, Niger broke a military agreement with the United States to open a drone site in the country. The country’s authorities said the agreement was imposed and not in the interest of the people. By the end of 2023, there were approximately 1,100 US servicemen in Niger, most of them at an air base near Agadez.
On December 4, 2023, Niger’s Defense Minister General Salifou Modi and Russian Deputy Defense Minister Colonel-General Yunus-Bek Yevkurov signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at strengthening defense cooperation. In April, Niger’s state television announced the arrival of Russian instructors in Niamey, who “delivered the latest generation of weapons.”
