Niger, the largest state in West Africa, has been celebrating its 19th anniversary as a republic, and on Sunday (18 December) during the celebrations Lieutenant-Colonel Seyni Kountche, President of the Supreme Military Council, opened a new satellite communications ground station in the capital of Niamey.

SYNOPSIS: The new station is at Goudel, and it has been built with the help of Niger's northern neighbour Algeria. Niger is a landlocked country, and the station is seen as an essential part of its development in communications.

With President Kountche at the opening ceremony were the Niger Minister of Civil Service Labour, Posts and Communications, Alouha Harouna and Colonel Mohamed Zerguini, the Algerian Minister of Posts and Communications. Colonel Zerguini said the ground station would contribute to reinforcing Niger's state sovereignity in telecommunications.

The station which will help develop Niger's international links, is run mainly by engineers and technicians from Niger itself. Minister Harouna said the essential objective of communications was to meet the needs of domestic development, and the development of international relations.

The establishment of this new station in Niamey is in line with the policy adopted by all Third World countries, to bring their communications systems to the level of sophistication already developed in the wealthier Western world.