Press Review: UN warns of genocide in Central African Republic & France refuses to pay more for Niger uranium

Director of operations John Ging says that the situation resembles previous genocides in Rwanda and Bosnia. People are committing atrocities against people in other communities and the army and police forces have disintegrated. Ging blames the situation on years of neglect by the international community. [Huffington Post]

Negotiations between Niger, one of the world’s poorest countries, and the French energy multinational Areva are testing whether countries like France will stand behind claims that they support poor countries benefitting from their domestic resources. The French government owns 87% of the company, but refuses to pay Niger higher royalties on the uranium it mines from the country. Despite mining making up 70% of Niger’s exports, it contributes to only 5.8% of the country’s GDP. [The Guardian]