Niger

Niger remains one of the least studied countries in Africa, despite its fascinating history and striking need for solutions to political and economic challenges to development. This chapter outlines those challenges, places them in historical context, and assesses the possibilities for relief. Chronic dilemmas include extreme poverty and a fragile democracy that is frequently interrupted by military coups and authoritarian resurgence. Emerging problems include climate change, terrorism, and migration pressures. Nigerien citizens, having long avoided some of the social unrest of other African countries, are increasingly showing signs of discontent as more of them take to the streets in protest to express their frustrations with multifaceted concerns. The overriding theme of Nigerien society is precarious stability: Politics and economics could generally be much worse, but they could also be much better.