Niger is a large
land-locked country in West Africa, and it shares with Mali and Chad, two neighboring
landlocked countries, the constraints of limited natural resources and recurrent drought.
Over 95% of the population lives along the Niger River which is the life line of Niger.
Less than 3% of the total land is arable, including the irrigated areas along the Niger
River. Niger got is its independence from France in August 1960.
Niger's economy
centers on subsistence agriculture, animal husbandry, re-export trade, and increasingly
less on uranium, its major export since the 1970s, affected severely by the declining
international demand and lower prices for the mineral. Cowpeas are currently the main
export crop followed by live animals, and hides and skins. The government relies on
bilateral and multilateral aid for operating expenses and public investment, and it is
strongly induced to adhere to structural adjustment programs designed by the IMF and the
World Bank. Donors' assistance has been reduced to Niger after the coup of 1996. A coup in
April 1999 led to the assassination of the president and the emergence of a new military
leader who used to be the commander of the presidential guard. The new leader yielded to
domestic and external pressures to undertake shortly democratic elections in the country.
Niger has an
under-developed telecommunications network with a capacity of 30,000 lines. In 1999,
the number of connected telephone lines was approximately 18,100 resulting in
a telephone density of 0.18 per hundred people.
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