In a bid to accelerate development in the country, Niger has recently awarded a permit to Africa’s biggest private-owned uranium exploration company GoviEx Niger Holding Limited, to exploit uranium for investments worth $676 million at the 243-km Madaouela Project in the Agadez region of the country.
The landlocked West African country is a major uranium producer and the ore is central to France’s nuclear energy program.
Four permits were granted for uranium exploration to GoviEx Niger Holding Ltd. and two other companies.
French state-owned nuclear company Areva also operates in the central Nigerien region. The relationship had been unstable since in April its workers launched a strike before a court declared it to be illegal.