Hamani Diori
1916 – 1989 Nigerien first president of Niger
Niger's first president, a pro-French leader whose rule was defined by disputes over the country's uranium and ended in a 1974 coup.
- Religion
- Muslim
- Affiliations
- Nigerien Progressive Party, Organisation of African Unity
Hamani Diori became Niger's first president at independence in 1960 and built a close relationship with France, which developed large uranium mines at Arlit from the late 1960s. In his final years he pressed France for a better price for Niger's uranium, a dispute that unfolded alongside a devastating Sahel drought and rising accusations of corruption in his circle. He was overthrown in an April 1974 military coup by Seyni Kountche; some accounts link the timing to the uranium quarrel, though a clear French role has not been established. He spent years under house arrest and died in Morocco in 1989.
Connections
- ally of Felix Houphouet-Boigny — Fellow moderate, pro-French francophone head of state.
In the timeline
- 1960 Independence of Niger first president at independence
- 1971 French uranium mining begins at Arlit in Niger president as French uranium mining began
- 2014 Niger fights over the terms of its uranium pressed France over uranium pricing before his overthrow