African Opinion - Freedom Archives

THE PLACE OF URANIUM IN
NIGER'S ECONOMY
(From 1'~Tiyer Perspectives)
Preparatory work for the mining of uranium in the
60 square kilonxcter area around Arlit i~ proceeding
at a fast pace. 'Ihe French Atomic Energy Commission
holds the exclusive rights . The mineral is found about
150 feet below the surface and open-cast mining will
necessitate the removal of several million tans of sand
and rock . 'This started oai the 4th November last year,
the date of the first dynamiting of the upper rock
stratum. Since them same 150,000 tans have been moved
each month .
At the same time the construction of the first buildings
for the new town of 5,000 inhabitants has already
started .
The project as a whale is impaling, especially in
relation to Niger's skeletal infrastructure . For it shaul.d
not be forgotten that the uranium bearing zone is
nearly 250 km to the north-west of Agadez, which is
itself the "gateway to the desert" and 2,500 km from
the noarest port . 3 :1,000 tons of goads must be carried
them each ,year, including fuel-oils, which is, in itself,
xio mean task .
This means, in affect, that goods disembarked at
Cotanou or Dahomey will first be carried the 400 km
to Parakou by rail, there loaded auto lorries which
must follow the 1,000 km of unpaved road to Tahotxa,
and then, .from this town, take the 650 km of desert
track to Arlit, going via Agadez . The whale of this
route must, of course, be drastically improved to ease
the passage of such a volume of traffic .
As from now, nearly 4,000,000 CFA in wages is
lreixxg paid each nxonth to the 400 workmen employed
at Arlit SOMAIR, a workforce which will be increased
to nearly 900 when the mining proper begins .
Tlxe authorities in Niger have high hopes of the
uranium mining for several reasons .
hirst, SOMAIR, must invest some 13 thousand million
CFA in order to get under way the extraction of
the ore which holds 0.25°fo uranium, and its transformation
into 65 to 70% uranate of soda. Naw the
investment of such a sum, which is equal to one and
a half times the State's budget, can only have a f;aQOrable
effect an the whole economy, even taking into
consideration the fact that most of the money will go
to buying foreign goads .
The provision of roads capable of carrying the traffic
described above will also favorably influence the whale
economy, without taking into account the fact that
to a certain degree it will be easier to prospect the
underlying layers whose potentialities are hardly known .
Finally, it is worth nothing that Niger will receive,
in the farm of taxes and dividends 66% of the profits
made, whilst 34% will go to its partners . Looked at
like this the whole affair seems very propitious, espe-
AFRICAN OPINION
dally since the SOMAIR experts, wlxo were thinking
two years ago of setting up-pilot factory to produce
`200 tans of uranium per year, now exuvisage a productian
of 750 tons starting from 1971, and 1,500 tons
in 1974..
~~'hatever happens, St)llAIR, with a budget of
7,500 million CFA, is going to figure largely in Niger's
economy .
(L'ontizrued f-rom page 11)
Special Recommendation
The Council of Ministers of the OAU recommended
that :
On 25t1z May, "Africa Day", National programmes
to include the sale of badges and emblems, showing of
films arzd otleer events for the purpose of collecting
ftends for the liberation struggle .
And to make funds available for reproduction of
films made as an example of the magnificent szzccess of
some Liberation Movements, particularly th,e PAIGC
in Gui,ea Bissau . Such films should be shown in all
African States and all African Communities so that
all floe people can be informed of tlce sacrifices and
activities of their strzegyliyrg brothers in, floe colonial
territories .
Declares that a~zy aggression on, azay OAU 1llember
State by the colonialist and regiynes of Portugal, "South,
Africa" and Rhodesia is regarded as an aggression on
all Africans.
And congralulated az~d records ill thanks to the
Gnvernment.s and people, leosts to recognized liberation
movements, and particularly those States adjacent to
" tlre fields of struggle for th,e immense sacrifices they
az°e daily shouldering in order to hasten the capitulation
of the colonialists and the enemies of A frica .
Greetings
on
AFRICA DAY, MAY 25th
to All Africans at
HOME OR ABROAD
on this
Our Day of Unity .
Returns Once Again
GOD SAVE AFRICA
GEORGE D. RANDOLPH
New Jersey, U. S. A.