Nigerien President Abdourahamane Tiani (@PresidenceNiger on X) announced on 3 August that he’s been alerted that French spies are plotting to destabilise Niger, citing former French spy Vincent Crouzet (@VincentCrouzet4 on X and @VincentCrouzet6 on IG). The Directorate-General for External Security (DGSE) is a French agency charged with intelligence and covert operations, or the French equivalent of the United States’ CIA or the United Kingdom’s MI6. It grew out of a previous French intelligence agency that conducted secret, destabilising missions across Africa. Crouzet is now a whistleblower who also writes spy novels based on his time in the DGSE. The 60-year-old spent much of his career in Mozambique, South Africa, and especially in Angola, where he worked to support Jonas Savimbi and the anti-communist National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) rebel forces. His latest novel is about a proxy war between Russian operatives and the DGSE in Mali and the Central African Republic. Niger is the latest African country to end military ties with France after an anti-imperialist coup in July 2023 connected Niger to the revolution unfolding across the Sahel. Niger has also been revoking France’s mining contracts over its large uranium deposits. The landlocked state is the first African country to cut ties with US Africa Command (AFRICOM), which hosts US military bases and military-to-military activities across the continent.