South Africa to develop coal mines to provide cheap cooking fuel

South Africa has agreed to help develop coal mines in Niger to provide cheap cooking fuel for local people and to promote exports of beef and cattle hides. It has also agreed to study the possibility of establishing a new air link between Niamey and Europe to improve transport links between this remote landlocked country and the outside world. These initiatives were outlined in a cooperation agreement signed on Thursday at the end of a two-day visit by South African Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosozana Zuma. South African companies have already opened several gold mines in neighbouring Burkina Faso and Mali and South African Airways recently introduced direct flights between Johannesburg and the Malian capital Bamako. Niger discovered new reserves of 30 million tonnes of coal last year near Tahoua, 450 km northeast of the capital. Nigerien Foreign Affairs minister Aichatou Mindaoudou said South Africa could help to develop these to provide a new energy source for her country's 11 million people at a "a very affordable price." Niger, which is two thirds desert, already has a pilot project to promote the use of coal as a household fuel in place of wood and charcoal. The scheme is aimed at saving trees in the south of the country from being cut down for firewood and stopping the steady southward advance of the Sahara desert. A local company, SONICHAR, already mines a 9.1 million tonne coal deposit near the northern town of Agadez to provide fuel for processing plants associated with the Arlit uranium mine near the Algerian border. Landlocked Niger is the world's third largest producer of uranium, which is used to power nuclear power stations. The cooperation agreement with South Africa also provides for South African investors to build a modern slaughter-house and meat packing plant to promote meat and leather exports. Livestock farming contributes an estimated 12 percent to Niger’s gross domestic product (GDP). Finally, South Africa said it would look at the possibility of some South African Airways flights stopping in Niamey on their way to Europe. At present, Niger's only direct air link to countries outside West Africa is a twice-weekly flight to Paris by Air France.