Niger 2016 Country Review http://www.countrywatch.com Table of Contents Chapter 1 1 Country Overview 1 Country Overview 2 Key Data 4 Niger 5 Africa 6 Chapter 2 8 Political Overview 8 History 9 Political Conditions 10 Political Risk Index 38 Political Stability 53 Freedom Rankings 68 Human Rights 80 Government Functions 82 Government Structure 84 Principal Government Officials 89 Leader Biography 90 Leader Biography 90 Foreign Relations 95 National Security 102 Defense Forces 104 Chapter 3 106 Economic Overview 106 Economic Overview 107 Nominal GDP and Components 109 Population and GDP Per Capita 111 Real GDP and Inflation 112 Government Spending and Taxation 113 Money Supply, Interest Rates and Unemployment 114 Foreign Trade and the Exchange Rate 115 Data in US Dollars 116 Energy Consumption and Production Standard Units 117 Energy Consumption and Production QUADS 119 World Energy Price Summary 120 CO2 Emissions 121 Agriculture Consumption and Production 122 World Agriculture Pricing Summary 124 Metals Consumption and Production 125 World Metals Pricing Summary 127 Economic Performance Index 128 Chapter 4 140 Investment Overview 140 Foreign Investment Climate 141 Foreign Investment Index 143 Corruption Perceptions Index 156 Competitiveness Ranking 168 Taxation 177 Stock Market 177 Partner Links 178 Chapter 5 179 Social Overview 179 People 180 Human Development Index 183 Life Satisfaction Index 187 Happy Planet Index 198 Status of Women 207 Global Gender Gap Index 209 Culture and Arts 219 Etiquette 219 Travel Information 220 Diseases/Health Data 230 Chapter 6 236 Environmental Overview 236 Environmental Issues 237 Environmental Policy 238 Greenhouse Gas Ranking 239 Global Environmental Snapshot 250 Global Environmental Concepts 261 International Environmental Agreements and Associations 275 Appendices 300 Bibliography 301 Niger Chapter 1 Country Overview Niger Review 2016 Page 1 of 313 pages Niger Country Overview NIGER Niger is a landlocked, western African country. Historically a gateway between North and sub- Saharan Africa, Niger came under French rule in the late 1890s. After independence from France in 1960, the country was run by a single-party civilian regime, but a combination of devastating drought and accusations of rampant corruption led to a coup in 1974 and the establishment of a military regime. In fact, Niger has been subject to a political legacy of instability and has been plagued by military coups since 1960. Public pressure to allow multiparty elections resulted in a democratic government in 1993, but political infighting brought the government to a standstill and led to a coup by Col. Ibrahim Bare in 1996. In 1999 Bare was killed in a coup by military officers who promptly restored democratic rule and held elections that brought Mamadou Tandja to power, as noted directly below. Despite its uranium reserves, Niger has remained a poor country albeit with increased economic and political stability under President Tanja's leadership. For his part, President Mamadou Tandja, a former army officer, was first voted into office in 1999 -- a year in which the country was subject to a coup d'etat that left the president at that time dead. Tandja was returned to power in an election in 2004. On February 20, 2010, President Mamadou Tandja of Niger was deposed in a coup d'etat carried out by the military of the country. Days later, Salou Djibo was named to be the country's interim president at the helm of a ruling junta that claimed its mission was to return Niger to a state of constitutionality and stability. Elections were held in 2011 with an eye on a return to good governance. Meanwhile, a predominately Tuareg ethnic group emerged in February 2007 -- the Nigerien Movement for Justice (MNJ) -- and attacked several military targets in Niger's northern region throughout 2007 and 2008. Events have since evolved into a fledging insurgency. Niger is one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world. The landlocked economy is heavily dependent on rain-fed subsistence agriculture. The country has some of the world’s largest uranium deposits, the main source of its export earnings. Niger Review 2016 Page 2 of 313 pages Niger Niger Review 2016 Page 3 of 313 pages Niger Key Data Key Data Region: Africa Population: 19034400 Climate: Desert; mostly hot, dry, dusty; tropical in exteme south French (official) Languages: Hausa Djerma Currency: 1 CFAF$ = 100 centimes Holiday: Republic Day is 18 December (1958), Independence Day is 3 August Area Total: 1267000 Area Land: 1266700 Coast Line: 0 Niger Review 2016 Page 4 of 313 pages Niger Niger Country Map Niger Review 2016 Page 5 of 313 pages Niger Africa Regional Map Niger Review 2016 Page 6 of 313 pages Niger Niger Review 2016 Page 7 of 313 pages Niger Chapter 2 Political Overview Niger Review 2016 Page 8 of 313 pages Niger History Considerable evidence indicates that about 600,000 years ago humans inhabited what has since become the desolate Sahara of northern Niger. Long before the arrival of French influence and control in the area, Niger was an important economic crossroads, and the empires of Songhai, Mali, Gao, Kanem and Bornu, as well as a number of Hausa states, claimed control over portions of the area. During recent centuries, the nomadic Tuareg formed large confederations, pushed southward, and, siding with various Hausa states, clashed with the Fulani Empire of Sokoto, which had gained control of much of the Hausa territory in the late 18th century. In the 19th century, contact with the West began when the first European explorers-notably Mungo Park (British), Renée Caillé and Heinrich Barth (German)-explored the area searching for the mouth of the Niger River. Although French efforts at pacification began before 1900, dissident ethnic groups, especially the desert Tuareg, were not subdued until 1922, when Niger became a French colony. Niger's colonial history and development parallel that of other French West African territories. France administered her West African colonies through a governor general at Dakar, Senegal, and governors in the individual territories, including Niger. In addition to conferring French citizenship on the inhabitants of the territories, the 1946 French constitution provided for decentralization of power and limited participation in political life for local advisory assemblies. A further revision in the organization of overseas territories occurred with the passage of the Overseas Reform Act (Loi Cadre) of July 23, 1956, followed by re-organizational measures enacted by the French parliament early in 1957. In addition to removing voting inequalities, these laws provided for creation of governmental organs, assuring individual terr itories a large measure of self-government. After the establishment of the Fifth French Republic on Dec. 4, 1958, Niger became an autonomous state within the French community. Following full independence on Aug. 3, 1960, however, membership was allowed to lapse. A notable thread in Niger's history is the role of Islam in politics. Prior to colonization by the French, Niger was significantly influenced by the spread of Islam. Koranic schools dominated Niger Review 2016 Page 9 of 313 pages Niger education and a significant portion of the country converted. In certain areas, most notably the trading capital of Maradi, pre-Islamic beliefs survived. A syncretic religion accepted Muslim elements while maintaining long standing political and religious institutions embedded in a system of priests and Bori cults. The priests would maintain order while Allah, as an element of Islam, would ensure health and prosperity of the community as a whole. While to some degree this religious syncretism persists, the Pax Britannic a and Pax Franca, which enabled a peaceful movement of people to and from Maradi, increased the Muslim influence. The steady conversion from an independent society to one bound by first the Sokoto Caliphate and more recently Islamic influences from Northern Nigeria has significantly affected the role of women in society. Women were once bound to society through their socioeconomic roles. They were traders and producers of cotton thread and cloth, cooking goods, among other things. This gave women a particular power in their social role within the priestly political systems. However, the concurrent shift to a cash economy and the rise of Islam has served to undermine this female role. From the late colonial period onwards, women have struggled to find a social role of value within the Islamic system and the modern state. In recent years, women have sought to carve out a new space for themselves through extra-societal organizations in Niamey. Supplementary sources: Africa Confidential, Alexander Lopasic, Barbara Cooper, Britannica Online and the University of Pennsylvania. Note on History: In certain entries, open source content from the State Department Background Notes and Country Guides have been used. A full listing of sources is available in the Bibliography. Political Conditions Independence to the 1990 For the first 14 years as an independent state, Niger was run by a single- party civilian regime under the presidency of Hamani Diori. During the 1970s, the country's economy flourished from uranium production, but when uranium prices fell in the 1980s, Niger's brief period of prosperity ended. In 1974, a combination of devastating drought and accusations of rampant corruption resulted in a military coup that overthrew the Diori regime. An estimated two million people were starving in Niger. However, 200,000 tons of imported food, half U.S. supplied, substantially ended Niger Review 2016 Page 10 of 313 pages Niger famine conditions by year's end. Seyni Kountche, a Hausa, and a small group of military advisors ruled the country until Kountche's death by natural causes in 1987. Kountche had installed a 12 man military government that administered to every aspect of the country's affairs. Fighting corruption and developing Niger's infrastructure was at the base Kountche administration.