Keypoints:
- Romania is seeking 300 tonnes of Niger uranium
- Nuclearelectrica says no final deal has been concluded
- Orano says arbitration bars third-party transfers
NIGER has opened a potentially consequential new front in its uranium confrontation with France after Romania’s state-controlled nuclear company expressed interest in buying 300 tonnes of uranium concentrate caught in a bitter ownership and international arbitration dispute.
The talks could give Niamey something it has sought since relations with France deteriorated following the 2023 military takeover: evidence that Niger can redirect one of its most strategic resources towards new international partners. But any transaction involving the disputed material risks drawing a European buyer into Niger’s increasingly complex legal battle with French nuclear group Orano.
Romania targets 300 tonnes
According to correspondence reviewed by Jeune Afrique and MDMG Sahel, Nuclearelectrica chief executive Cosmin Ghiță formally expressed interest in acquiring uranium from Niger on April 13, 2026.
Niger’s Mines Minister, Colonel Abarchi Ousmane, responded on April 20, saying Niamey wanted to ‘diversify its partners’ and explore opportunities to supply uranium to Romania and the wider European market.
Ghiță subsequently proposed sending representatives from FPCU Feldioara, Nuclearelectrica’s uranium-processing subsidiary, to Niamey.
Romanian corporate documents show that Feldioara forms part of Nuclearelectrica’s nuclear-fuel operations and processes uranium concentrate for use in the country’s nuclear industry.
A Romanian delegation reportedly travelled to Niger between May 11 and 15. On May 14, Feldioara’s interim director-general, Marian Comiati, wrote to Niger’s state mining company SOPAMIN expressing what the investigation described as a ‘firm and unequivocal interest’ in purchasing 300 tonnes of uranium concentrate.
The correspondence is significant because it moves the story beyond speculation that Niger is looking for alternative customers. It provides evidence of a concrete European commercial approach to Niamey.
No agreement has been concluded
There is an important qualification.
Romania has not confirmed that it has bought the uranium.
Although a source familiar with the negotiations reportedly told Jeune Afrique that the transaction had been finalised, Nuclearelectrica told the publication that ‘no agreement has been concluded and, consequently, no price has been set’.
Questions over uranium quality, contractual conditions and transportation also reportedly remained unresolved.
The distinction is crucial. Romania can accurately be described as seeking, considering or negotiating over 300 tonnes of Nigerien uranium. There is currently insufficient evidence to say Bucharest has secured, purchased or taken delivery of the material.
Arbitration hangs over any sale
The uranium lies at the centre of a legal confrontation between Niger and Orano.
The dispute escalated after Niamey asserted control over SOMAÏR, the uranium operation near Arlit that had long been majority-owned by the French nuclear group.
Africa Briefing previously reported how Niger moved to nationalise the SOMAÏR uranium mine, portraying the move as part of a broader effort to reclaim greater control over strategic natural resources.
Orano challenged Niger through international arbitration.
According to an official Orano statement, an arbitral tribunal operating under the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes ordered Niger on September 23, 2025 not to sell, transfer or facilitate the transfer to third parties of uranium produced by SOMAÏR that was subject to the dispute.
That creates a potentially serious complication for any prospective buyer.
A transaction involving the contested material could expose a buyer to action from Orano, which says the ICSID order prevents Niger from transferring the uranium to third parties. The French company has also said it reserves the right to pursue further legal measures, including against third parties involved in acquiring the material.
The precise legal consequences of any Romanian purchase would depend on the terms of the transaction, the status of the uranium involved and how the arbitration order is ultimately interpreted and enforced.
Niger turns uranium into leverage
The Romanian interest matters beyond the proposed 300-tonne transaction.
Niger’s confrontation with Orano has evolved from a corporate dispute into a wider test of who controls strategic African mineral resources when relations between host governments and former colonial commercial partners break down.
Orano said in November 2025 that uranium had been transported away from SOMAÏR without its involvement. The company said it had no official information about the quantity, destination or security arrangements and described the movement as inconsistent with the ICSID tribunal decision.
Niamey, meanwhile, has continued dismantling parts of the commercial structure that tied its uranium sector closely to France.
Africa Briefing has also reported that Niger revoked another longstanding French-linked uranium concession as authorities intensified their resource-sovereignty campaign.
Securing a willing European buyer would therefore carry political symbolism alongside its commercial significance.
Rather than allowing Niger’s uranium trade to remain defined overwhelmingly through France, Niamey would be demonstrating that it can cultivate alternative customers within Europe itself.
Russia remains part of the equation
Russia also remains part of Niger’s wider uranium strategy.
Moscow and Niamey deepened their nuclear relationship in July 2025 when Niger’s government announced that the two countries had signed a memorandum covering civilian nuclear cooperation and uranium exploitation.
Russian Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilev said Moscow wanted not only to participate in uranium mining but also to help establish a broader uranium-development system in Niger.
Africa Briefing reported at the time that Russia was moving deeper into Niger’s uranium sector as French influence diminished.
The Romanian approach therefore suggests something broader than a simple shift from France towards Russia.
Niger appears to be trying to build a more diversified market around its uranium, widening the pool of prospective buyers and strategic partners while using access to the resource to strengthen its diplomatic and commercial bargaining power.
Europe faces an awkward choice
For Romania, the attraction is clear.
Uranium supply security has become increasingly important as European governments reassess nuclear energy, supply-chain resilience and dependence on politically sensitive sources of nuclear fuel.
Nuclearelectrica’s control of Feldioara gives Romania an established uranium-processing capability, making Nigerien material commercially relevant if contractual, technical and legal obstacles can be overcome.
For Niger, the ambitions stretch beyond the contested SOMAÏR stockpile.
The country is also seeking to expand future production, including through the Dasa project, where a revised feasibility study extended the projected mine life to 23 years. Africa Briefing previously reported that Dasa could significantly expand Niger’s future uranium output.
The Romanian talks therefore present Europe with an awkward question.
Can an EU-based nuclear company safely conclude a uranium transaction with Niger while Orano maintains that an international tribunal has barred Niamey from transferring the disputed SOMAÏR material?
Until that question is resolved, the 300 tonnes should not be treated as a completed Romanian acquisition.
Its greater significance lies elsewhere.
The negotiations provide evidence that Niger is testing whether political control over its uranium can be converted into commercial independence from France — and whether a broader network of European, Russian and other international relationships can replace the structures that dominated its uranium industry for decades.
Romania may not yet have bought Niger’s uranium.
But its interest suggests Niamey is already making progress towards one of its central objectives: widening the field of countries willing to do business.
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