Barcourgné Courmo is a former Niger

Niger

Niger , officially named the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east...

ien politician and diplomat. Courmo was Finance Minister  and chair of the ruling party politburo in the 1960s, as well as the Foreign Minister of Niger briefly in 1970 under Hamani Diori

Hamani Diori

Hamani Diori was the first President of the Republic of Niger. He was appointed to that office in 1960, when Niger gained independence.- Youth :...

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Early career

Courmo was closely involved with Diori during the independence struggle, serving as Secretary General of the PPN from 1946-1955. He was of Djerma ethnicity, born in the western city of Say

Say, Niger

Say is a town in southwest Niger, situated on the Niger River. It is the capital of the Say Department in the Tillabéri Region. The municipality has 12,000 inhabitants, and its economy is dominated by agriculture, herding and small trade.-Overview:...

, and attended the elite Ecole William Ponty in Dakar

Dakar

Dakar is the capital city and largest city of Senegal. It is located on the Cap-Vert Peninsula on the Atlantic coast and is the westernmost city on the African mainland...

 during French Colonial rule

French West Africa

French West Africa was a federation of eight French colonial territories in Africa: Mauritania, Senegal, French Sudan , French Guinea , Côte d'Ivoire , Upper Volta , Dahomey and Niger...

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Ruling party

Serving in a number of local and national posts during the transition from French rule, Courmo became Finance Minister in the PPN administration of 1958, holding that post in the first independent government of 1960. In 1965 he became chair of the PPN polituro, and from 1971–72, first chair of the Nigerien Economic and Social Council (CESOC). A powerful figure, Courmo was one of a handful of Diori's inner circle during the period of one party rule.

Fall

Courmo fell from power in 1972 when he acted in support of an abortive military coup, itself crushed almost immediately by the Nigerien Armed Forces. He was quietly forced into retirement, becoming one of only two members of the PPN politburo to be dropped prior to the 1974 end of the Diori regime.