Niger: Abdourahamane Tchiani

Abdourahamane Tchiani (born 1960s) is a Nigerien military officer and politician who has served as since 2025. The Chief of the Nigerien Presidential Guard since 2011, he overthrew president in 2023, becoming the leader of a junta. He was inaugurated as president of Niger two years later.

As leader of Niger, he oversaw stemming from the coup, the establishment of the , and withdrawal from ECOWAS.

Tchiani was born in 1960, 1961, or 1964. He hails from in the , a main recruitment area for the in the west of the country. He is an ethnic . He completed his secondary education in the capital , graduating with a in 1984. He then joined the army and studied at the National School of Active Officers in , Senegal in the same year.

Before becoming Commander of the Presidential guard, he led forces in , , and where he combated drug trafficking. In 1989, he was the first to make it to the site of the crash in the desert, for which he was decorated. He also served in UN peacekeeping missions in the , , and the . He also served in the set up by Niger, , and to fight .

In 2011, Tchiani assumed command of the Presidential Guard and was a close ally of then-President , who promoted him to general in 2018. In 2015, Tchiani was accused of involvement in a coup plot against Issoufou but denied the charges in court. He was otherwise regarded as keeping his views to himself during that time.

In 2021, Tchiani led the unit that thwarted an ; at the time a military unit tried to seize the presidential palace two days before Issoufou stepped down to make way for his democratically elected successor, , who retained Tchiani in his post.

On 26 July 2023, Tchiani ordered presidential guards to detain Bazoum at his presidential residence in Niamey. Bazoum was planning to relieve Tchiani from his position. Sources close to Bazoum said that he had decided on Tchiani's dismissal at a cabinet meeting on 24 July as their relations had reportedly become strained.

On 28 July, Tchiani revealed himself as the president of the , which took power on 26 July, in an address on . He said the coup was undertaken to avoid "the gradual and inevitable demise" of the country and said that Bazoum had tried to hide "the harsh reality" of the country, which he called "a pile of dead, displaced, humiliation and frustration". He also criticized the government's security strategy for its purported ineffectiveness.

responded to the coup by imposing the strictest the bloc ever imposed on a member state, demanding the reinstatement of Bazoum. As blackouts and supply disruptions roiled Niger, Tchiani criticized the sanctions as illegal and inhumane. In a meeting with an ECOWAS delegation, Tchiani proposed a three-year window for a transition to civilian rule, which ECOWAS rejected in favor of an immediate transfer of power. ECOWAS lifted the sanctions for humanitarian reasons after Niger had departed the organization.

Under Tchiani's leadership, Niger established the with and in 2023, and left ECOWAS with them in 2024. and troops were withdrawn from the country. The country also aligned itself closer to and troops from the were sent to help Niger combat the Jihadist insurgents.

Analysts identified three main objectives of Tchiani's internal policy: modernizing the army, promoting (including a lessened dependence on through investments in , and ), and implementing an agenda.

In December 2024, Tchiani accused France and of colluding with rebel groups to destabilize the Nigerien government, as well as accusing Nigeria of sabotaging to . Nigeria denied these allegations.

In January 2025, according to the , Niger became the first country and the fifth country worldwide to eradicate (a goal it had already been working towards for several years prior to the coup).

Tchiani was formally sworn in as president on 26 March 2025, for a five year term, and promoted to the rank of general.

Like before the coup d'état, the economic system is based upon but accords an important role to private enterprise. The three main policy objectives are the maintenance of national unity, the elevation of the living standards of the population, and the attainment of economic independence. The private sector of the economy consists partly of a multitude of small enterprises and partly of enterprises belonging to large French or international companies. ^[]

In October 2023, sanctions and the suspension of international aid from left as one of the poorest countries in the world. Niger's governing junta announced at the start of the month a 40% cut in the 2023 budget due to "heavy sanctions imposed by international and regional organizations ... exposing the country to a major drop in external and internal revenue." Nigeria, a supplier of 71% of Niger's electricity prior to the coup, contributed to Niamey's crisis by halting its services. By October 2023, Niger's Nigelec state-owned utility company could only meet between a quarter and half of demand across the country.

In February 2024, a new regulatory law was enacted to secure unrestricted access to state resources. Military spending is no longer subject to public procurement regulations. This has paved the way for faster processing of arms purchases, the use of mercenaries, and the alleged personal enrichment of the new rulers^[].

In June 2024, the revoked the operating licence of French nuclear fuel producer Orano at one of the world's biggest uranium mines. Days later, it announced that the Imouraren mine had returned "to the state's public domain".

His and , was affiliated with the , a party which advocates for liberal economic policies.

Tchiani is married and has five children. He is Muslim.

Source:

• Grand Officer of the  [] (2021)
• Commander of the National Order of Niger (2018)
• Officer of the National Order of Niger (2010)
• Knight of the National Order of Niger (2004)
• Officer of the  [] (2001)

• Grand Cross of the (Mali, 2025)