NIGER

The unstable security situation throughout the Sahel region reveals the weakness of state authorities in the region. Niger’s security forces are also struggling to exercise effective control of the country. Several terrorist groups, such as the Islamic State or Boko Haram, regularly attack military bases and also civilians. Niger is also one of the poorest countries in the world with one of the highest rates of population growth (on an average, women have 7 children) and is wrestling with numerous governance problems, including regular accusations of corruption against government representatives or officials. There were several demonstrations against the rampant corruption and bad governance in the past. However, in the 2020/21 elections, Niger for the first time successfully managed the transfer of power from one elected President to another, Mohamed Bazoum. In the past, the country had suffered numerous military coups.

Niger is an important transit country for migration from Africa to the Mediterranean coast. The so-called “central Mediterranean route” leads – especially via the Nigerien city of Agadez – towards the Algerian and Libyan borders and continues on to the Mediterranean coast. Many Nigeriens are involved in transporting migrants through the Sahara, an activity that is as lucrative for the traffickers as it is dangerous for the migrants. Niger is also a transit country for returnees from Libya or for African migrants expelled from Algeria. Germany and the EU as a whole have a considerable interest in supporting Niger, as one of the hubs of African migration, in overcoming these challenges, and in preventing illegal migration flows at a point that is as close as possible to where they originate.

In recent years, Niger has proven itself to be a reliable partner for Germany and the EU in many policy areas. Already under the Issoufu Presidency, the Nigerien government was committed to the fight against illegal migration flows and was prepared to take action against trafficking networks in its own country. This was demonstrated, for example, by the adoption of an extremely strict law in 2015, which is intended to prevent human trafficking by threatening severe punishments (up to 30 years in prison). Niger consistently enforces this policy and is taking on illegal migration; numerous smugglers’ vehicles have been confiscated.

However, the government’s position is not popular with large sections of the Nigerien population, and there is open criticism of its approach, especially in the Agadez region. Given this situation, a distinction must be made between a government that is largely willing to cooperate and sections of the population (especially in the north), who are losing a lucrative source of income, the transport of migrants, and who are, to some extent, also critical of their own government’s migration policy.

Niger is regarded as a reliable partner for Germany. President Mohamed Bazoum paid a visit to Berlin in early July 2021, in order to underline the “excellent“ quality of mutual relations. His predecessor Issoufu had already met then Chancellor Merkel on numerous occasions.  

As a transit country, Niger is supported by a whole range of measures for regulating migration flows. It is important to stress that Niger – as one of the poorest countries in the world and in view of the considerable security policy challenges in the region – is dependent on strong development assistance and security policy cooperation, irrespective of the migration issue. The deterioration of the security situation in the Sahel region since 2013, for example, has contributed to an overall expansion of international engagement, because further destabilisation of the region would also have negative effects on the Sahel’s West African neighbours.

Bilateral cooperation with Germany is part of this overall engagement by the international community. Recently, Germany has considerably enhanced its development policy commitment. A total of more than 115 million euros was pledged to Niger for the period 2018 to 2020, almost twice as much as in the period of 2014 to 2017. An example of this is Germany’s support for projects in the Agadez region that are intended to create employment prospects outside of human trafficking. Niger is also one of the priority countries in the EU migration partnership.  As an important local player with a nationwide footprint, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) supports migrants who are willing to return. In cooperation with the Nigerien authorities, the IOM has also managed to save thousands of migrants along dangerous routes.

Against the background of its own immense challenges in the areas of security and development, the Nigerien government is interested in expanding cooperation. Unlike neighbours like Mali, the country has come out against cooperating with Russia and puts its faith in the West. Germany also has a strong interest in intensive cooperation, not only with regard to the issue of migration, but also because of the possible consequences that further destabilisation of the Sahel would have for the whole of West Africa (such as threats from terrorism and organised crime). Niger and Germany share an interest in stabilising the countries of the Sahel region.

In view of the precarious security situation, providing stronger support for government structures offers some potential, e.g. by implementing actions under the German Enable & Enhance initiative (Ertüchtigungsinitiative) in the field of security. The Nigerien government’s constructive approach also offers opportunities for cooperation in other contexts, such as in the United Nations.

Already existing programmes for strengthening the Nigerien security forces (armed forces, police, and gendarmerie) should therefore be expanded as an instrument of German support. In addition, other core functions of the Nigerien state should also be strengthened (e.g. the judiciary, territorial administration). In order to be able to keep making a sustainable contribution to the regulation of migration flows, Niger needs to be assisted in improving the security situation in the country and in making progress in the field of development. Neither will be possible without the government being an effective and efficient actor that is visible throughout the country.

Ulf Laessingheads the KAS Sahel Regional Programme.

Last update: 18 May 2022