03/12/2025
NIGER FRUSTRATES BOTSWANA
Niger frustrated Botswana and the continent at the ongoing CITES CoP20. Botswana tabled a proposal for the world to consider harmonising the conditions of trade in live African savannah elephants for the exclusive purpose of allowing trade in hunting trophies for non commercial purposes; trade in live elephants to appropriate and acceptable destinations; trade in hides, hair, and leather goods; and non commercial trade in individually marked and certified ekipas incorporated into finished jewellery for Namibia and ivory carvings for Zimbabwe.
Niger caught the African continent by surprise because they had unanimously agreed, at a meeting on African Elephant Dialogue held in Maun about a year ago, to support a proposal tabled by Botswana. Over and above that, Ministers of Environment from across the continent initiated the formation of the African Group of Negotiators on Wildlife, whose main objective is to ensure that what the continent has agreed on is supported by all member states at CoP20.
Niger surprised everyone when they proposed changes to Botswana’s proposal, restricting the sale of live elephants only to range states in Africa.
According to the outcomes of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment held in Kenya in July, Ministers agreed to operationalise “the African Group of Negotiators on Wildlife, with the objectives of coordinating Africa’s common positions, representing and negotiating for African interests.”
“We met in Botswana where we agreed to unanimously support the proposal, and we have been meeting as the African caucus in Uzbekistan to remind each other of what we agreed to. No one raised any issue with Botswana’s proposal. We don’t know where Niger was coming from,” said one delegate from East Africa, who did not want to be named.
“They claim not to understand some text, and it was interesting that Senegal and Kenya went on to support them. It was clear that those countries held their own meeting, which clearly violates what Ministers agreed to.”
According to a highly placed source, the plan to frustrate Botswana was hatched during lunchtime on Saturday, hours before the country presented the proposal. “The NGOs that do not support the selling of live elephants convened a meeting with officials from West Africa at the 11th hour, and I was part of it. Some of us do not agree with the position of those NGOs. If the matter goes for a vote, we will support Botswana, but on the floor we will speak with Niger,” said a source who did not want to be named.
The European Union, with 27 member states at the CoP, supports Botswana’s proposal, which is based on science and gives consideration to conservation and sustainable use.
The debate on the matter will continue tomorrow.
📸 Ministry of Environment and Tourism
