NIGER

The new junta ruling in Niger, one of the world's biggest uranium producers, should review and possibly renegotiate dozens of resource exploitation contracts, civil rights groups said on Saturday.

Markets, banks and schools in Niger's capital opened as usual on Friday, a day after troops ousted President Mamadou Tandja in a military coup, and the only soldiers on the streets were few and lightly armed.

Mutinous troops led by an army major captured Niger's President Mamadou Tandja on Thursday after storming his palace in a four-hour gun battle that killed at least three soldiers, military sources said.

Africa's largest oil producer, Nigeria is concerned on reports that its oil reserves in the Niger Delta region will dry and disappear by the year 2040. Studies by country's Regulatory and monitoring organs blamed activities of militant groups in the region, ineptitude leadership and rapid depletion of ore, a major component for the exploration are contributory factors that may see the end of Nigeria's oil.