Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, all under military rule following a string of coups since 2020, joined together in September 2023 under the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), after severing ties with former colonial ruler France and pivoting towards Russia.

The neighbours are all battling jihadist violence that erupted in northern Mali in 2012 and spread to Niger and Burkina Faso in 2015.

The deal covers a communications satellite, another for remote sensing and a third for radar, Nigerien Communications Minister Sidi Mohamed Raliou said at the signing ceremony in the capital Niamey.

Their manufacture in Russia will take four years, he said.

State radio in the West African nation reported that in the meantime Glavkosmos had agreed to loan similar equipment.

"This very important project falls within the framework of the sovereignty of our countries," the minister said.

"At the end of this project, the three countries will be able to pilot their communication satellites themselves and manage them as they wish," the ANP Nigerien press agency quoted the minister as saying.